L  I  B  R  A.  R  Y 

Theological    Seminary 

-  ^    ,   :     PRINJpETON,    ft.  J. 


-/S 


C    BV  3790  .K57  1875 

Kirk,  Edward  Norris,  1802 
1874. 
i  Lectures  on  revivals 


LECTURES  ON  REVIVALS. 


BY 

EDV^ARD     NORRIS     KIRK,    D.D., 

LATE   PASTOR   OF   MOUNT   VERNON   CHURCH,    BOSTON. 


EDITED    BY 

REV.   DAVID    O.   MEARS. 


BOSTON: 

CONGREGATIONAL   PUBLISHING  SOCIETY, 

CONGREGATIONAL  HOUSE, 

BEACON   STREET. 
1875. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1875,  by 

The  Congregational  Publishing  Society, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Boston : 

Stereotyped  by  C.  J.  Peters  &  Son, 

73  Federal  Street. 


PREFACE. 


The  following  Lectures  were  delivered  before  the 
students  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover,  in 
the  winter  of  1868.  They  may  be  said  to  embody  the 
observation  and  experience  of  Dr.  Kirk's  busy  life, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  they  reveal  the  principles 
upon  which  his  success  was  built  up.  The  Lectures 
are  preserved  in  their  original  form  of  address. 

The  absence  of  footnotes,  marking  the  source  of 
many  quotations  from  other  authors,  is  to  be  regretted, 
but  is  unavoidable. 

The  wide  range  of  thought,  the  freedom  from  any 
bias  of  judgment,  the  scholarly  analysis  of  the  whole 
subject,  will  be  recognized  by  every  reader  ;  and  the 
style  will  recall  to  thousands  the  man  himself  at  work. 
The  portrait  of  the  true  preacher  in  these  pages  is  a 
portrait  of  himself,  unconsciously  drawn. 

From  the  day  when  he  went  from  house  to  house  in 
Westfield,    N.J.,   conversing  with  all    upon    the  great 

m 


IV  PREFACE. 

theme  of  salvation,  he  was  never  idle.  "  There  I  put 
the  cross  on  my  shoulder :  it  was  heavy  all  that  dark 
day,  but  never  since." 

This  is  not  the  place  in  which  to  record  his  labors 
throughout  our  land  ;  nor  can  we  speak  of  the  multi- 
tudes thronging  him  upon  the  Continent,  eager  to  catch 
from  his  lips  the  story  of  his  Lord  and  Master.  Such 
labors  and  such  opportunities  gave  him  an  experience 
fruitful  in  its  suggestions.  Yet  hear  him  refer  to  a 
memorable  hour  in  his  early  life :  "  I  think  that  never 
since  that  night  in  Princeton,  N.J.,  have  I  been  either 
troubled  or  elated  by  the  number  of  persons  in  my 
audience."  Such  was  his  testimony,  given  as  he 
waited  for  his  Lord  to  come.  It  was  his  highest  aim 
to  win  souls  to  Christ,  not  to  lead  the  multitudes. 
But  he  did  both.  Such  an  experience  has  given  shape 
to  the  thoughts  presented  in  this  volume. 

In  response  to  an  invitation  of  his  younger  brethren 
in  the  ministry,  Dr.  Kirk  addressed  them  upon  Reviv- 
als, Monday  morning,  March  23,  1874.  They  asked 
him  to  continue  the  theme  the  next  week.  Upon  the 
intervening  Friday,  March  27,  he  was  writing  the  plan 
for  his  address.  The  two  first  topics  he  had  elabo- 
rated ;  viz.,  "  I.  What  is  a  Christian  Revival  ? "  and  "II. 
Sketch  of  the  History  of  Revivals."  The  other  gener- 
al division  was  worded  thus,  "  III.  Present  State  of  the 
Church  and  the  World ; "  and  the  words  were  under- 


PREFACE.  V 

scored.  But,  before  the  ink  was  dried  from  the  paper, 
the  hand  of  death  was  laid  upon  him,  —  his  work  all 
done.  These  Lectures,  of  which  that  paper  was  only 
a  brief,  are  now  given  to  the  public  :  we  will  call  them 
his  legacy.  "  He  being  dead  yet  speaketh."  It  is  im- 
possible not  to  understand  that  voice.  If  the  "  present 
state  of  the  Churh  and  the  world  "  is  not  yet  one  of 
purity,  it  can  become  such  only  by  widespread  and 
powerful  Revivals  of  Religion. 

Surely  it  is  not  a  vain  wish  to  express,  that  these 
Lectures  may  have  their  part  in  hastening  on  that 
brighter  day. 

D.  O.  Mears. 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  Jan.  12,  1875. 


CONTENTS, 


FIRST   LECTURE. 

Pagb 
Description    of    Revivals,  Indirect   and   Direct. — Dis- 
criminative   Examination    of    Revivals.  —  Spurious 
Revivals ,        .        i 

SECOND   LECTURE. 

Spurious  Revivals  {continued).  —  Defensive  View.  —  Popu- 
lar Objections 28 

THIRD   LECTURE. 

Theological  Objections. —Value  of  Revivals.  —  Philo- 
sophical Objections 59 

FOURTH   LECTURE. 

Theology. — Agency  of  Providence. — Agency  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  —  Human  Agency.  —  Agency  of  the  Gos- 
pel. —  History.  —  Apostolical  Revivals         ...      88 

FIFTH   LECTURE. 
History  {continued).  —  Post-Apostolical  Revivals       .        .     117 

SIXTH   LECTURE. 

History  {continued). —  Later  Revivals. —  Revivalists  with- 
out Revivals 138 

vii 


VIU  '  CONTENTS. 

SEVENTH  LECTURE. 

Revivalists  without   Revivals   {cotitmued).  —  Revivalists 

IN  Revivals 167 

EIGHTH   LECTURE. 
Revivalists  in  Revivals  {continued).  —  Review     .        .        .     196 

NINTH   LECTURE. 
Practical  Survey.  —  Preparing  for  a  Revival.        .     .  .    224 

TENTH   LECTURE. 

Practical  Survey  {contimted).  —  Evangelists.  —  Other  In- 
strumentalities     245 

ELEVENTH   LECTURE. 

Preaching.  —  Waiting    for   a   Revival.  —  Working   in   a 

Revival  . 272 

TWELFTH   LECTURE. 
Working  in  a  Revival  {continued).  —  Closing  a  Revival   .     299 


ADDRESS 323 


OLOGIC 


LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 


FIRST    LECTURE. 
§  I.  —  Description  of  Revivals. 

In  our  own  field  of  observation,  and  in  the 
world's  history,  we  find  the  phenomena  popularly 
designated  Awakenings,  Reformations,  or  Revivals 
of  Religion.  Many  persons  entertain  the  notion 
that  they  are  abnormal ;  at  best,  mixed  benefits : 
whereas  they  hold  in  the  religious  world  the  same 
place  as  the  most  glorious  epochs  in  secular  his- 
tory ;  nay,  they  thoroughly  affect  that  history, 
and  we  find  their  counterparts  in  every  other  de- 
partment of  life,  —  whether  vegetable,  animal,  or 
intellectual,  —  in  commerce  and  in  art.  They  are 
merely  advancing  stages,  culminating  epochs,  transi- 
tion-periods, in  human  progress. 

Indeed,  Revivals  are  but  the  more  manifest  and 
brilliant  stages  of  the  advance  of  Messiah's  king- 
dom. Even  the  most  isolated  and  limited  of  them 
has  an  unearthly  splendor ;  and  though  no  news- 


2  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

paper  announces  it,  though  its  theatre  be  the 
humblest  hamlet,  it  has  awakened  more  joy  and 
praise  in  heaven  than  the  most  brilliant  of  mili- 
tary exploits,  or  the  grandest  triumphs  of  genius. 
It  is  one  in  a  series  of  events  not  only  commen- 
surate w^ith  human  history,  but  which  also  con- 
stitutes its  only  intrinsic  and  permanent  value; 
whose  originating  and  shaping  influences  are  the 
exercises  of  that  power  which  has  commenced  the 
redemption  and  renovation  of  a  world  ruined  by 
sin. 

More  definitely,  then,  what  it  is  intended  here  to 
affirm  is,  that  every  human  event  finds  its  ultimate 
relative  value  in  its  more  or  less  direct  and  inti- 
mate connection  with  two  grand  issues,  —  the 
advancement  of  the  great  Institution  called  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ ;  and  the  introduction  of  the 
individual  man  into  that  Kingdom,  with  all  its 
unending  consequences  to  him. 

This  is  our  standard.  Judged  by  this,  the  direct 
Revival  of  Religion  holds  the  first  rank  in  moral 
grandeur  and  in  importance  among  all  the  occur- 
rences of  history,  excepting  only  such  purely  divine 
movements  as  prepare  for  them ;  such  as  the  incar- 
nation of  Deity,  and  all  those  sublime  events  which 
cluster  around  it. 

I  propose  to  consider  Revivals,  I.  Descriptive- 
ly; 11.  Apologetically;  III.  Theologically; 
IV.  Historically;  V.  Practically. 

We  meet  the  inquiry  at  the  outset,  What  is  a 
Revival  of  Religion  ? 


DESCRIPTION    OF   REVIVALS. 


I.  —  Description, 


A  Revival  is  the  result  of  special  impulses  on 
the  religious  sensibilities  of  a  community,. charac- 
terized by  these  features,  —  a  change,  a  religious 
change,  wrought  by  the  supernatural  action  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  tending  to  the  advancement  of  true 
religion,  directly  or  indirectly. 

It  is  sufficiently  obvious  how  we  may  apply  the 
first  two  tests  of  a  change  in  the  current  of  men's 
religious  thoughts  and  acts ;  but  it  may  not  be  so 
manifest  how  we  are  to  determine  whether  the 
Holy  Spirit  originated  this  change,  or  what  the 
yet  future  results  are  to  be.  It  may,  then,  be  stated 
that  we  have  generally  adequate  tests  for  our  guid- 
ance while  this  change  is  in  progress ;  and  the 
results  may  serve,  when  we  reach  them,  either  to 
modify  or  confirm  our  previous  judgments. 

How,  then,  may  we  determine  at  the  time 
whether  the  Revival  is  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  ?  First,  the  feeling  predominant  in  the 
people's  minds  must  be  a  religious  sentiment. 
The  instrument  of  its  progress  must  be  the  dis- 
tinctive truths  of  the  gospel.  Then  the  leading 
minds  of  the  movement  must  be,  or  appear  to  be, 
actuated  supremely  by  zeal  for  God,  and  for  man's 
salvation,  expressing  itself  in  extraordinary  kinds 
and  degrees  of  prayer,  self-sacrifice,  and  effort. 
As  we  cannot  judge  the  hearts  of  men  infallibly, 
we  may  be  mistaken  as  to  the  spirit  of   leaders ; 


LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 


but  they  must  act  so  as  to  awaken  religious 
sensibility  in  their  hearers.  This  is  the  test  in  the 
case  of  what  we  may  denominate  direct  Revivals ; 
and  that  may  suffice  for  our  present  purposes. 

Then,  in  regard  to  results,  we  apply  the  test 
thus  :  every  religious  impulse  which  either  arouses 
men  to  remove  the  hinderances  to  the  progress  of 
religion,  or  brings  a  believer  nearer  to  his  Saviour, 
or  directly  secures  the  conversion  of  men  to  God, 
is  a  true  Revival.  Its  direct  or  its  remote  tendency 
must  be  to  quicken  and  elevate  the  consciences  of 
men,  to  renovate  personal  character,  causing  the 
grovelling,  the  morose,  the  grasping,  the  hard,  and 
the  selfish  dispositions  of  men  to  give  place  to 
"love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  good- 
ness, faith,  meekness,  temperance."  * 

Tested  by  this  standard,  we  shall  find  that  the 
popular  view  is  too  limited,  and  that  we  must  con- 
sider the  Revival  of  Religion  as  it  manifests  itself 
under  various  types  of  predominant  sentiment  or 
result.  It  may  indeed  serve  the  purposes  of  those 
who  look  no  farther  than  to  phenomena  to  consider 
Revivals  as  always  of  the  type  prevalent  in  our  day: 
and  for  practical  purposes  this  may  suffice ;  for 
it  is  not  improbable,  that,  in  our  day  and  in  this 
country,  no  other  will  be  needed ;  and  that  the 
final  triumph  of  our  Redeemer  will  be  secured  by 
an  increasingly  rapid  succession  of  modern  Revivals, 
of  increasing  purity,  power,  and  extent. 

*  Gal.  V.  22. 


DESCRIPTION   OF   REVIVALS.  5 

This  is  said  on  the  presumption,  which  is  cer- 
tainly not  very  extravagant,  that  the  main  obsta- 
cles, whether  doctrines,  institutions,  or  customs, 
which  have  heretofore  prevented  the  coming  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  are  in  this  day  either  over- 
thrown, or  so  far  enfeebled  in  this  land  as  to  offer 
no  absolute  obstruction  to  true  laborers.  Unless 
the  Papal  Church  should  become  very  powerful 
here,  the  work  henceforward  is  to  be  mainly  inter- 
nal :  if  so,  then  the  popular  view  of  Revivals 
suffices  for  practical  purposes. 

But  that  should  not  satisfy  those  whose  profes- 
sional employments  require  them  to  go  beyond 
events  to  their  relations  as  causes  and  effects ;  tra- 
cing the  essence  of  the  ephemeral  occurrences  of 
our  day  and  locality  to  that  one  great  purpose  of 
redeeming  love,  which  alone  gives  unity  and  pro- 
found significance  to  all  the  records  of  history. 
We  must  then  observe  how  the  forms  of  develop- 
ment which  this  power  assumes  are  modified  by  the 
counteraction  of  human  depravity  and  by  the  vary- 
ing conditions  of  society. 

*  Each  epoch  of  personal  or  general  history,  each 
prominent  revolutionary  or  transitional  period  in 
the  life  of  an  individual  or  a  community,  presents 
some  distinguishing  feature  or  characteristic  ele- 
ment, while  it  has  much  in  common  with  other 
movements  of  a  different  general  type. 

This  variety  in  Revivals  may  result  from  divers 
degrees  and  even  forms  of  the  Spirit's  action,  as 
I* 


6  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

well  as  from  innumerable  modifying  influences ; 
such  as  the  variety  of  doctrinal  views,  of  tempera- 
ment, of  habits,  of  education,  and  prevalent  tones 
of  feeling  in-  a  community.  The  very  climate  and 
season,  as  they  affect  the  physical  state,  may, 
through  it,  affect  the  form  and  progress  of  the 
Revivals ;  and  then,  too,  the  sovereign  Lord 
adapts  his  work  to  the  ever-varying  wants  of  his 
Church. 

The  quickening  of  personal  piety  may  lead 
either  to  no  prominent  outward  results,  or  mainly 
to  those  secular  manifestations  which  constitute 
some  of  the  salient  points  of  history,  —  the  stages 
of  social  transition,  on  a  field  of  greater  or  less 
breadth. 

Among  the  various  figures  employed  in  Scrip- 
ture to  illustrate  the  condition  of  God's  kingdom 
on  earth,  there  is  one  of  great  beauty.  Ezekiel 
saw  a  river  coming  forth  from  under  the  Temple, 
growing  in  dimensions  as  it  advanced :  so  we  find 
the  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  It  is  a 
little  spring  far  up  in  the  mountains  ;  here  moving 
silently ;  there  rushing  with  tremendous  force  and 
commotion  ;  now  lying,  a  tranquil  mirror,  reflecting 
the  beauties  of  earth  and  sky ;  now  creeping  gently 
through  meadows  of  celestial  peace  and  beauty; 
then,  meeting  some  obstruction,  its  character  is 
changed.  Now  it  begins  to  swell,  and  gather  re- 
sistless might,  until  it  finally  bursts  its  barriers, 
and  sweeps  a  continent  with  its  wrecks. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    REVIVALS.  7 

There  are,  then,  two  classes  of  revivals,  —  the  di- 
rect and  the  indirect.  In  illustrating  them,  it  will 
be  necessary,  to  some  extent,  to  anticipate  our  his- 
torical survey. 

I .  —  TJie  Indirect  Revivals. 

These  include,  — 

The  Politico-Religious  Movemeiits.  —  The  reli- 
gious feeling  quickened,  seeking  to  express  itself 
and  to  affect  society,  often  finds  unexpected  embar- 
rassments. Social  and  political  barriers  may  lie  in 
the  line  of  its  march :  they  must  be  removed,  even 
at  the  cost  of  struggles  and  sacrifices. 

The  first  in  history  is  the  exodus  from  Egypt 
and  the  pilgrimage  to  Canaan,  which  may  have 
been  only  a  blind  outburst  of  nationality  and 
patriotism  in  the  body  of  the  people,  wearied  to 
exhaustion  by  the  oppressive  policy  of  Pharaoh. 
But  in  their  leader's  mind,  perhaps  shared  by 
many  of  the  tribal  chiefs,  it  was  a  grand  religious 
inspiration.  Moses  saw  that  the  Church  of  God 
could  never  expand  into  healthful  and  vigorous  life 
amidst  an  idolatrous  race  of  masters,  and  under 
the  crushing,  degrading  tyranny  of  the  Pharaohs. 

In  communing  with  God,  he  caught  the  holy 
inspiration,  and  received  the  clear  expression  of  the 
divine  will.  It  was  indeed  a  revival,  when  the  Israel- 
ites, led  by  Jehovah  out  of  the  land  of  bondage 
through  the  sea  and  the  desert,  went  up  to  the 
mount  of  God  to  form  the  Jewish  Church  into  a 
theocratic  nation. 


8  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

A  similar  impulse  was  afterwards  felt  by  their 
descendants  in  captivity  in  Persia,  when  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah  were  awakened  to  such  desires  for  the 
restoration  of  their  people  and  church  to  the  land 
of  promise. 

The  wars  of  the  Maccabees  partook  of  the  same 
blended  character  of  patriotism  and  piety.  Those 
were  the  glorious  epochs  of  Jewish  history. 

At  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
Christian  world  felt  the  breath  of  the  Lord  afresh. 
The  Church,  then  conterminous  with  the  Christian 
states,  had  sunk  to  the  lowest  point  of  spiritual 
life,  had  become  a  moral  chaos,  so  far  as  a  large 
majority  of  its  members  were  concerned.  On  the 
face  of  those  dark  waters,  as  in  the  beginning,  the 
Spirit  of  God  at  length  moved. 

Luther's  struggle  began  as  a  contest  for  doctrine 
and  for  liberty  of  conscience.  Its  vital  force  was 
in  its  resistance  to  the  civil  power  in  the  pre- 
tended head  of  the  Church,  alway.s  employed  to 
suppress  the  truth.  Incidentally,  from  this  struggle 
sprang  the  liberty  that  now  distinguishes  the  Chris- 
tian states  of  the  world.  This  has  been  followed 
by  those  less  truly  religious  or  spiritual  movements 
that  severed  the  Church  from  the  Civil  Government 
in  the  American  colonies,  in  the  Canton  de  Vaud, 
and  recently  in  Scotland.  In  the  latter  case,  it 
was  a  revived  spirit  of  loyalty.  Jealousy  for  King 
Jesus  and  his  rights,  a  horror  of  Erastianism,  led  to 
one  of  the  sublimest  movements  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. 


DESCRIPTION    OF   REVIVALS.  9 

The  second  form  of  indirect  Revivals  consists  of, — 

Those  which  are  directed  mainly  to  the  ProdiLction 
of  Moral  Changes ;  for  these  have  often  taken 
place  entirely  distinct  from  revivals  in  the  popular 
sense.  Yet  they  are,  in  reality,  a  part  of  the  great 
movement  that  is  to  give  the  kingdom  to  the 
Lord's  anointed. 

Such  were,  in  their  incipient  stages,  many  of  the 
agitations  within  the  Latin  Church,  leading  to 
the  reformation  of  those  very  monastic  orders 
which  have  themselves  become  the  cess-pools  of 
the  Church  in  its  corruptest  state.  Again  and 
again,  but  to  no  ultimate  good,  true-hearted  men 
have  entered  their  ranks  and  their  cells  with  the 
besom  of  reform  in  hand.  Benedict  and  St.  Ber-  -T" 
nard,  and  the  eloquent  Savonarola,  formed  moral 
epochs  in  the  history  of  their  Church.  The  latter 
entered  the  cathedral  at  Florence  as  the  Master 
entered  the  temple,  with  the  scourge  of  a  fiery 
eloquence,  trying  to  convert  the  den  of  thieves 
into  a  house  of  prayer. 

Our  anti-slavery  struggle  was  a  revival  of  dor- 
mant moral  principle,  coming  out  in  distinct,  bold, 
earnest,  unwearied  efforts  to  set  the  public  con- 
science right  on  that  great  subject  of  oppression, 
to  giving  our  late  war  an  eminently  religious  char- 
acter. The  temperance  reformation  partakes  of 
the  same  character,  —  principle  contending  with 
passion  and  selfishness. 

Another  form  of  indirect  Revivals  is  witnessed 
in,— 


lO  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

The  Efforts  to  construct,  defend,  and  pnrify  the 
ChtircJi  Doctrines.  —  In  the  apostolic  period,  the 
Church  beHeved  the  specific  statements  of  the  Ca- 
nonical Scriptures,  without  attempting  either  a 
systematic  arrangement,  or  a  philosophical  defence 
of  them.  But  men  of  philosophic  habits  were  con- 
verted ;  and  heathen  philosophers  attacked  the  dog- 
mas of  the  Church.  From  these  two  sources 
sprang  the  systems  of  didactic  and  polemic  theo- 
logy. 

These  processes  were  sometimes  advanced  in  the 
solitary  retreat  of  the  student ;  but,  at  other  times, 
they  were  attended  with  great  public  demonstra- 
tions and  excitements  within  the  Church-circle. 

In  many  of  the  early  councils,  for  instance,  were 
witnessed  the  most  sincere  struggles  of  the  Church 
to  preserve  her  doctrines  in  strict  accordance  with 
the  word  of  God. 

Our  Protestant  principles  have  compelled  us  to 
resist  the  dictation  of  councils  ;  and  our  dread  of 
patristic  authority  has  set  us  in  a  defensive  atti- 
tude toward  their  decisions.  But  we  can  afford 
now  to  take  a  more  liberal  view  of  them,  as  the 
danger  of  being  misunderstood  is  diminished.  The 
assembling  and  deliberations  of  the  Council  of  Nice, 
for  instance,  and  its  decisions,  are  really  among 
the  sublimest  features  of  ecclesiastical  history; 
whether  we  regard  the  doctrine  they  met  to  formu- 
late, the  emperor's  relations  to  the  council,  the 
men  who  composed  it,  the  learning  and  piety  ex- 


DESCRIPTION   OF   REVIVALS.  II 

hibited  in  the  discussions,  or  the  degree  of  success 
which  crowned  their  efforts  to  state  with  precision 
what  God  has  revealed  respecting  the  relations  of 
the  divine  Son  to  the  Father.  Merivale  thus  re- 
marks :  — 

"  In  the  dogmas  there  discussed  lay  the  breath 
of  all  spiritual  life  at  the  period.  This  one  question 
especially,  then  elaborately  defined,  was  one  of  life 
and  death  for  the  scheme  of  theology  then  estab- 
lished, and  ever  since  maintained  in  pre-eminence, 
in  the  Church  of  Christ."  "  The  Creed  of  Nicaea 
threw  boldly  into  the  world  this  first  fundamental 
conception  of  true  divinity ;  and  deep  was  the  satis- 
faction with  which  it  was  received  by  the  vexed, 
the  wavering,  the  terrified  schools  of  disenchanted 
heathenism." 

The  Reformation  partook  largely  of  this  element. 
The  struggles  of  Puritanism  were  also  eminently 
doctrinal  conflicts.  The  contest  in  Ireland  and 
in  Holland,  the  Pietistic  movement  in  Germany, 
the  conflict  in  Massachusetts  at  the  beginning  of 
this  century,  and  recent  movements  in  France  par- 
take of  this  character  of  doctrinal  revival ;  where 
men  contended  with  unwonted  earnestness  and 
definiteness,  and  over  a  large  district,  for  "  the  faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints." 

2.  —  The  Direct  or  Spiritual  Revival. 

We  now  proceed  to  consider  the  direct  or 
spiritual  Revival.  This  may  exist  in  one  of  various 
forms.     We  distinguish  first,  — 


12  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

The  Silent  Grozvth  oi'-  Quickening  of  Personal 
Piety.  —  This  is  truly  a  Revival.  It  has  existed 
probably  in  every  one  of  the  thousands  of  years 
since  man  departed  from  his  God  at  first.  Of  a  few 
of  these  cases  we  have  records  ;  but  of  millions  of 
others  we  shall  know  nothing  here,  whatever  the 
future  life  may  reveal. 

Perhaps  there  are  but  few  of  God's  children 
whose  lives  have  not  been  marked  either  by  de- 
clensions and  revivings,  or  by  distinct  stages  of 
progress,  gradually  rising  from  certain  starting- 
points  to  higher  and  higher  planes  of  living. 

If  Dr.  Thomas  Scott  and  Dr.  Chalmers  were 
truly  regenerated  men  in  the  beginning  of  their 
ministries,  the  great  changes  v/hich  took  place  in 
their  experiences  afterward  were  striking  instances 
of  solitary  personal  revival. 

The  next  form  we  notice  is,  — 

TJic  Quickening  of  a  Cotmnn-nity  of  Believers, 
not  resulting  prominently  in  the  conversion  of  men. 
The  first  of  which  we  hear  was  in  the  case  of  Jacob  ; 
when,  after  an  interval  of  forgetfulness  and  luke- 
warmness,  he  was  called  to  take  up  his  whole 
family  to  Bethel.  Solemn  and  transforming  must 
have  been  the  season  with  the  patriarch  and  his 
household,  when  they  put  away  their  idols,  and 
renewed  their  vows  in  the  place  so  sacred  to  their 
fathers. 

In  the  twentieth  year  of  Samuel's  rule  over  the 
tribes,  in  the  reigns  of  Josiah,  Hezekiah,  and  even 


DESCRIPTION    OF   REVIVALS.  13 

Ahab,  there  were  manifested  quickenings  of  the 
reUgious  spirit.  In  the  Corinthian  Church  there 
appears  to  have  been  a  sad  declension  v^ithin  five 
years  after  Paul  had  founded  it.  This  called  for 
the  severe  rebukes  of  his  first  epistle  to  them.  By 
the  time  he  had  reached  Philippi,  he  heard  from 
Timothy  that  the  Church  v^as  penitent  and  revived. 
The  letter  had  wrought  its  legitimate  effect,  as  it 
led  them  to  institute  discipline,  correct  their 
wrong  practices,  and  cherish  a  purer  spirit  of 
piety. 

Another  form,  not  always  but  generally  spirit- 
ual in  its  results,  is  the  revival  of  a  generous 
spirit,  the  overthrow  of  that  love  of  property  which 
is  deeply  rooted  in  man.  We  may  call  it,  then,  in 
a  limited  sense,  the  Revival  of,  — 

Benevolence.  —  It  is  indeed  but  a  Revival  of  per- 
sonal piety ;  but  it  assumes  such  outward  forms, 
and  produces  such  distinct  outward  results,  as  to 
call  for  a  separate  consideration. 

The  love  of  money,  though  among  the  strongest 
human  passions,  yields  to  the  controlling  power 
of  a  true  faith ;  and,  when  that  is  quickened,  we 
look  for  its  effects  in  leading  to  a  generous  aban- 
donment of  the  joy  of  possession  and  a  restriction 
of  self-indulgence,  or  a  devotion  of  property  in 
various  ways,  to  promote  the  public  welfare,  and 
relieve  the  personal  wants  of  the  poor. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  consider  one  other  aspect 
of  Revivals :  — 


14  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Conversions,  accompanying  Efforts  and  Prayers 
for  Conversions.  —  Many  think  the  word  "Revival" 
would  be  etymologically  out  of  place  here,  were  it 
applied  only  to  many  conversions  occurring  simul- 
taneously, or  in  rapid  succession.  But,  in  fact,  that 
phenomenon  alone  is  literally  a  Revival,  because  that 
probably  never  takes  place  apart  from  the  revived 
tone  of  piety  in  a  few  or  in  many  believers.  Prob- 
ably a  case  seldom  if  ever  occurs  of  quickened 
love  to  the  Saviour,  which  does  not  produce  the 
feelings  these  words  express :  "  Oh  that  others, 
whether  backsliders  or  impenitent  sinners,  would 
come  and  obtain  what  1  have  now  received  !  "  It 
is  a  genuine,  noble,  unselfish,  Christ-like  feeling, 
probably  permitted  to  die  in  many  cases ;  in  the 
remainder,  too  widely,  if  not  almost  universally,  to 
slumber.  When,  however,  it  is  quickened,  there 
surely  is  a  Revival,  manifested  in  increased  fervor, 
definiteness,  and  simplicity  of  prayer  to  God,  and 
earnestness  of  warning  and  persuasion  toward  the 
unbelieving. 

Then,  also,  probably,  the  larger  portion  of  those 
who  are  converted  at  such  periods  have  been 
awakened  before,  to  some  extent,  to  contemplate 
and  to  feel  the  same  truths  to  which  their  hearts 
now  fully  yield.  Thus  there  is  here  a  requick- 
ening. 

We  define  a  Revival,  then,  a  quickened  state  of 
relisfious  feeliuG:,  manifestino:  itself  in  some  social 
form.      The  Scriptures  employ  these  descriptions  : 


Dj:SCRIPTION    OF    REVIVALS.  1 5 

"  Then  began  men  to  call  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord;"*  and  "they  that  feared  the  Lord  spake 
often  one  to  another ;  and  the  Lord  hearkened  and 
heard."  f  ''When  the  Lord  turned  again  the  cap- 
tivity of  Zion,  we  were  like  them  that  dream.  Then 
was  our  mouth  filled  with  laughter,  and  our  tongue 
with  singing :  then  said  they  among  the  heathen, 
The  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  them.  The 
Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  us,  whereof  we 
are  glad."  $  "  Thou  shalt  arise,  and  havfe  mercy 
upon  Zion;.  for  the  time  to  favor  her,  yea,  the 
set  time,  is  come ;  for  thy  servants  take  pleas- 
ure in  her  stones,  and  favor  the  dust  thereof."  § 
"  Lo,  the  winter  is  past,  the  rain  is  over  and 
gone ;  the  flowers  appear  on  the  earth ;  the  time 
of  the  singing  of  birds  is  come,  and  the  voice  of 
the  turtle  is  heard  in  our  land."  || 

And  in  Isaiah  you  may  find  some  glowing  de- 
scriptions indicative  particularly  of  the  holy  joy  of 
these  seasons. 

It  was  a  Revival,  when  men  cried  out  under  the 
first  gospel-sermon  they  ever  heard,  hundreds  at 
once,  "  What  must  we  do  .^  " 

Latent  loyalty  under  such  conditions  becomes 
active  and  diffused,  like  the  ointment  from  the 
broken  alabaster-box,  filling  the  atmosphere  of  earth 
with  the  fragrancy  of  heaven. 

*  Gen.  iv.  26.  f  Mai.  iii.  16. 

I  Ps.  cxxvi.  1-3.  §  Ps.  cii,  13,  14. 

II  Song  of  Sol.  ii.  11,  12. 


l6  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  pass  from  this  descrip- 
tion of  direct  Revivals  to,  — 

II.  A  Discriminative  Examination  of  tJicm  ;  or, 
to  drav^  the  Une  between  a  Revival  and  the  ordinary- 
spiritual  condition  of  a  church ;  and,  also,  the 
spurious  imitations  of  Revivals.  We  distinguish, 
then,  between, — 

I .  —  A  Revival  and  the  Ordinaiy  Spiritual  Condi- 
tion of  the  Clmi'ch  and  Society  aronnd  it. 

Probably  no  eye  ever  discerns  the  hour  or  day  in 
which  winter  gives  way  to  spring.  The  two  sea- 
sons have  many  features  in  common.  Both  have 
trees  and  brooks.  Yet  we  easily  find  other  features 
that  difference  the  one  from  the  other.  So  a  Revi- 
val, very  distinct  in  some  features,  cannot  always 
be  assigned  an  exact  date  of  commencement. 

Although  a  tree  is  a  tree,  and  grass  is  grass,  and 
water  flows  equally  in  winter  and  summer ;  yet  a 
leafless  tree,  a  garden  without  a  blossom,  a  river 
bound  in  icy  chains,  are  very  different,  as  objects  of 
vision,  from  a  tree  in  full  foliage,  a  garden  gay 
with  flowers,  a  river  floating  the  full  freighted  barge 
of  commerce. 

Our  first  contrast,  then,  is  with  — 

A  condition  of  general  ungodliness,  of  abounding 
scepticism  and  wickedness  in  society,  of  coldness  and 
formality  in  the  Church. 

A  godly  traveller  may  enter  a  village,  and  be 
painfully  impressed  with  the  moral  features  which 


DESCRIPTION   OF   REVIVALS.     •  1 7 

meet  the  eye  of  even  a  stranger.  He  mingles  with 
the  members  of  the  church.  Nothing  in  their  Ufe, 
conversation,  or  spirit,  distinguishes  them  as  a 
spiritual,  regenerated,  heaven-born,  heaven-seeking 
people.  He  finds  discipline  abandoned,  the  reli- 
gious meetings  oppressively  dull,  unmeaning,  and 
unedifying.  Neither  in  them  nor  out  of  them  is 
manifested  that  peculiar  mutual  love  which  the 
Saviour  so  earnestly  enjoined.  The  conversation 
of  religious  people  is  all  earthly,  betraying  an  en- 
tire absence  of  daily  communion  with  their  Saviour, 
a  lack  of  interest  in  his  kingdom  and  in  the  salva- 
tion of  men.  In  the  social  circles,  in  the  families, 
in  the  religious  assemblies,  everywhere,  he  witnesses 
the  marks  of  winter  in  that  portion  of  the  King's 
garden. 

The  very  preaching  has  lost  all  life  but  that 
which  is  intellectual.  It  may  be  elegant,  rigidly 
correct,  epigrammatic,  learned,  profound,  but  not 
spiritually  quickening,  powerless  in  those  effects 
which  distinguish  the  results  of  God's  word.  How- 
ever adapted  to  produce  intellectual  gratification, 
it  is  not  "profitable  for  reproof,  for  correction,"  for 
convincing  of  sin,  righteousness,  and  judgment. 

Now,  let  that  stranger  return  to  the  same  village 
after  ''the  south  wind"  has  quickened  it.  He  needs 
no  definitions  or  explanations  to  show  him  what  a 
Revival  is,  or  to  prove  its  existence  there.  The 
change  is  patent,  cheering.  The  dead  have  arisen 
to  life.     Every  tongue  is  now  employed  in  express- 


1 8  ■         LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

ing  it.  Every  countenance  beams  with  it.  The 
praying  and  the  preaching  and  the  exhortation,  all 
give  evidence  of  the  descent  of  power  from  on  high. 
Boanerges  has  taken  possession  of  the  pulpit.  No 
more  dull  homilies,  no  more  dilettante  niceties : 
strength,  fire,  tenderness,  pathos,  power,  are  there' 
It  is  the  son  of  thunder  echoing  the  law  from 
Sinai;  Jeremiah  weeping  over  a  degenerate  church; 
John  opening  the  apocalyptic  seals  ;  Paul  warning 
every  man  with  tears ;  an  ambassador  from  the 
skies,  bearing  on  his  person  the  badges  of  his  com- 
mission, praying  men  in  Christ's  stead,  as  though 
the  eternal  God  were  beseeching  them  to  become 
reconciled  to  himself. 

The  stranger  now  recognizes  a  change  in  the 
entire  moral  atmosphere  of  the  place.  Abounding 
frivolousness  has  given  way  to  thoughtfulness  and 
earnestness.  Men  seem  to  have  awaked  to  a  dis- 
covery of  the  more  serious  features  of  life,  to  a 
sense  of  responsibility  to  God,  to  a  consciousness 
of  personal  interest  in  matters  of  supreme  moment, 
heretofore  neglected  and  unobserved. .  If  he  goes 
far  enough  and  deep  enough  in  his  examination,  he 
will  observe  that  great  moral  transformations  are 
going  forward  in  the  community.  Scepticism  is 
yielding  to  faith  :  licentiousness  and  fraud,  profane- 
ness  and  drunkenness,  are  forsaken. 

Here  is,  then,  a  sufficiently  clear  line  of  demarca- 
tion between  a  Revival  and  a  low  condition  of  moral 
feeling  in  a  community.     And  frequently  it  is  this 


•     DESCRIPTION    OF   REVIVALS.  1 9 

very  depression  of  moral  sentiment  which  the  Spirit 
of  all  grace  employs  to  awaken  the  conscience,  and 
quicken  the  soul  to  new  aspirations.  One  has 
remarked,  "  It  is  when  sophistry  has  full  sway  that 
the  irony  and  extraordinary  good  sense  of  a  Soc- 
rates show  themselves.  It  is  when  Pelagianism 
has  reached  its  extreme  consequences,  when  men 
have  come  to  traffic  in  eternal  life,  that  that  re- 
action of  the  religious  conscience  which  we  call  the 
Reformation  takes  place.  It  is  when  a  prisoner  in 
the  Castle  of  If,  that  Mirabeau  writes  his  essay  on 
Despotism."  * 

There  is,  then,  another  contrast,  —  that  between 
Revivals  and  the  ordinary  healtJifid  condition  of  the 
Church. 

The  difference  is  seen  principally  in  a  manifesta- 
tion of  the  demonstrative  character  of  piety,  of  its 
social  elements,  and  of  its  moral  power  in  the 
world.  There  is  such  a  condition  of  the  Church 
as  may  be  characterized  by^ regular,  imperceptible 
growth.  This  is  eminently  desirable  ;  but  it  is  not 
a  Revival ;  for  that  is  always  marked  by  tJiree  fea- 
tures, —  a  more  or  less  sudden  advance  in  the  degree 
of  religious  feeling  and  power  of  religious  principle 
in  a  people ;  this  advance  assuming  positive  ex- 
pression ;  and  producing  more  or  less  effect  on  the 
subsequent  action  of  the  Church,  and  even  beyond 
its  limits. 

In  ordinary  conditions  of  the  Church,  its  mem- 

*  Theol.  Eclect.  iv.  129. 


20  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

bers  generally  may  be  "  growing  in  grace  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  Christ,"  "walking  in  all  the  com- 
mandments and  ordinances  of  the  Lord  blame- 
less," like  Zacharias,  and  yet,  like  him,  dumb.  No 
one  ever  hears  from  their  lips  a  word  of  peniten- 
tial sorrow  for  sin,  -of  love  to  Christ,  of  zeal  for 
men's  salvation,  —  dumb  in  the  family,  dumb  on 
the  exchange,  dumb  in-  the  prayer-meeting,  dumb 
everywhere  on  this  chief  of  interests,  these  sub- 
limest  of  truths.  But  a  Revival  looses  the  cord  of 
Zacharias' s  tongue,  and  he  speaks  to  men  about 
Christ,  and  pleads  with  Christ  for  men.  It  has 
now  become  easy,  natural,  to  speak  of  the  things  of 
the  heavenly  kingdom.  Even  the  ungodly  expect 
to  hear  it,  and  to  join  in  religious  conversation. 
Children,  as  of  old,  are  heard  shouting  hosannahs, 
with  the  Lord's  approbation. 

Then  piety  strongly  manifests  its  social  charac- 
ter. Believers  are  not  content  to  go  to  heaven 
alone.  They  become  as  solicitous  about  the 
eternal  welfare  of  their  neighbors  as  they  ever 
were  for  their  own.  Parents  are  looking  ear- 
nestly at  the  prospects  of  their  children  for  time 
and  eternity.  Then  God's  people  "return,  and 
discern  between  him  that  serveth  God,  and  him 
that  serveth  him  not."  Then  the  scene  which 
Malachi  describes  is  made  a  visible  reality :  "  They 
that  feared  the  Lord,  spake  often  one  to  another. 
I  will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet,  and  he  shall 
turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children."  * 

*  Mai.  iv.  5,  6. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    REVIVALS.  21 

Then  are  fulfilled,  in  the  experience  of  many, 
the  beautiful  predictions  of  Isaiah :  "  In  that  day 
thou  shalt  say,  O  Lord,  I  will  praise  thee :  though 
thou  wast  angry  with  me,  thine  anger  is  turned 
away,  and  thou  comfortedst  me.  Behold,  God  is 
my  salvation ;  I  will  trust,  and  not  be  afraid :  for 
the  Lord  Jehovah  is  my  strength  and  my  song ;  he 
also  is  become  my  salvation.  Therefore  with  joy 
shall  ye  draw  water  out  of  the  wells  of  salvation. 
Cry  out,  and  shout,  thou  inhabitant  of  Zion ;  for  great 
is  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  in  the  midst  of  thee."  * 

A  peculiar  sense  of  the  divine  presence,  a  clear 
discovery  of  the  reality  of  salvation,  a  conscious- 
ness of  personal  communion  with  Christ,  a  scatter- 
ing of  those  gloomy  doubts  which  too  generally 
overhang  the  horizon  of  believers,  all  these  expe- 
riences cause  just  that  state  of  feeling  witnessed 
in  Samaria  in  their  revival:  "There  was  great  joy 
in  that  city." 

The  word  has  been  fulfilled,  "  Fear  not,  O  Jacob, 
my  servant^ and  thou,  Jesurun,  whom  I  have  chos- 
en ;  for  I  will  pour  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty, 
and  floods  upon  the  dry  ground :  I  will  pour  my 
Spirit  upon  thy  seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  thine 
offspring.  And  they  shall  spring  up  as  among  the 
grass,  as  willows  among  the  water-courses."  f 

It  is,  in  fact,  a  dawning  of  that  eternal  day,  in 
which  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  to  be  with  men,  — 
a  day  in  which  sin's  dominion  shall  have  been  com- 
pletely overthrown. 

*  Isa.  xii.  t  Isa-  xliv.  1-4. 


22  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

It  is  a  period  of  heavenly,  Christ-like,  benevo- 
lence. The  avi^akened  believer  cannot  rest  while 
his  neighbor,  his  child,  his  friend,  is  a  branch  sepa- 
rate from  the  True  Vine,  only  withering  and  drying 
for  the  final  burning.  Thus  the  revival  is  distin- 
guished by  intense  sympathy  for  the  unconverted. 

And  it  is  equally  distinguished  by  new  exhibi- 
tions of  the  moral  power  of  Christianity,  —  its  rela- 
tions to  society  as  its  mightiest  moral  force ; 
illustrating  and  confirming  that  parable  in  which 
the  Saviour  compares  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to 
leaven,  fermenting  and  fomenting,  agitating,  pene- 
trating, transforming,  —  a  hidden  power  working 
the  crude,  innutritions  paste  into  the  pure,  nutri- 
tious esculent. 

This  will  appear  abundantly  when  we  reach 
the  more  distinct,  historical,  aspect  of  our  subject, 
and  observe  some  of  those  events,  which,  like 
oases,  have  adorned  the  desert  spaces  of  history. 
Thus  a  Revival  is  distinguished  from  the  healthful 
but  ordinary  condition  of  the  Church, -^  the  winter, 
in  which  even  the  tender  grass  is  living,  but  in 
which  no  flowers  adorn  and  cheer  the  meadows, 
nor  is  the  sound  of  the  turtle  heard  in  the  land. 

2.  —  Spurious  Revivals. 

Such  a  phenomenon  as  an  irreligious  excitement 
in  the  public  mind,  even  on  religious  themes,  is 
possible.  Nay,  the  purest  Revival  will  have  much 
in  it  foreign  to  its  own  spirit,  because  man's  agency 


SPURIOUS    REVIVALS.  23 

is  there,  and  its  internal  sphere  of  operations  is  the 
heart  of  man.  But,  in  many  cases,  they  may  be 
called  Revivals,  because  religious  topics  hold  a 
prominent  place  in  them ;  spurious,  because  their 
spirit  and  their  influence  are  irreligious. 

We  inquire  for  their  peculiar  features  and  ele- 
ments. 

The  various  branches  of  the  Gnostic  system  and 
sect,  which  so  harassed  the  Church  in  the  early  Chris- 
tian centuries,  may  be  cited  as  examples ;  such  as 
the  Marcionites,  the  Patripassians,  and  the  Priscil- 
lianists.  Let  us  select  the  Montanists,  whose  pre- 
tensions were  abhorrent  to  the  reverential  spirit  of 
true  and  enlightened  piety,  and  yet  who  created 
such  a  ferment  in  their  day. 

Their  blasphemous  claim  was  that  Montanus, 
their  founder,  was  himself,  or  held  the  office  of, 
the  Paraclete.  The  excitement  was  about  a  reli- 
gious doctrine ;  but  we  must  pronounce  the  entire 
movement  spurious,  because  the  doctrine  that 
caused  it  was  not  the  truth  revealed  in  God's  word. 
We  may  also  cite  the  case  of  Hildebrand,  centu- 
ries later,  who  produced  an  intense  excitement  in 
the  Christian  world.  The  personal  motives  which 
he  avowed,  the  means  employed  to  enlist  the  peo- 
ple in  his  party,  the  general  tone  of  the  movement, 
were  not  all,  nor  mainly,  religious.  He  awakened 
the  religious  zeal  of  his  followers,  indeed ;  but  it 
was  by  disguising  under  a  religious  garb  that  purely 
political  question,  now  settled  forever,  whether  an 


24  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Italian  priest  should  be  monarch  of  the  globe,  and 
lord  of  the  human  conscience.  It  was,  therefore, 
a  movement  originating  in  ambition,  and  yet 
shrewdly  enlisting  in  its  service  the  religious  sen- 
timent of  Europe. 

So  Peter  the  Hermit  aroused  the  religious  feelings 
of  the  world,  to  an  intense  degree,  in  favor  of  the 
crusade. 

Hans  Bucheim  aroused  the  Bohemian  peasantry 
by  his  fanatical  addresses  and  pretended  miracles, 
and  prepared  them  for  that  terrible  commotion, 
called  the  "Peasants'  War,"  which  has  been  denomi- 
nated "  the  translation  of  spiritual  liberty  into  the 
political  domain." 

But  neither  of  these  religious  excitements  was, 
by  its  own  tendency,  to  any  extent  that  is  noticea- 
ble, an  advancement  of  God's  kingdom.  They 
seized  on  the  party-spirit,  and  even  the  baser  pas- 
sions, of  religious  men,  but  awakened  few  or  no 
consciences  to  a  clearer  perception  of  the  purity 
God  requires ;  brought  few  men,  if  any,  to  repent- 
ance towards  God.  They  organized  the  crusades, 
sending  forth  to  battle  multitudes,  more  wicked 
than  the  Saracens,  whom  they  slew  in  the  name  of 
the  Crucified  ;  leading  the  zeal  of  men  to  rescue  a 
sepulchre  from  the  infidel,  while  it  fostered  a  super- 
stition in  the  invaders  as  hostile  to  Christ  as  Islam- 
ism  itself.  Partisanship  is  not  piety,  even  though 
it  inscribes  the  cross  on  its  banner. 

The  Fifth-Monarchy  men,  the  Jesuits,  the  Ana- 


SPURIOUS    REVIVALS.  25 

baptists,  the  Mormons,  have  at  times  greatly- 
stirred  the  hearts  of  men.  Judged,  however,  by  a 
true  standard,  in  their  origin,  their  objects,  their 
spirit,  and  results,  if  they  were  religious  excite- 
ments, they  were  not  Revivals  of  religion,  not  stages 
of  progress  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

And  yet  while  we  must  censure  much  in  the  ex- 
citements of  the  middle  ages,  while  we  utterly  discard 
many  of  the  institutions  then  organized,  there  is 
here,  as  in  judging  personal  character,  a  large  space 
for  charity.  Although  many  a  hermit's  cave  was 
selected,  and  many  a  monastery  founded,  equally  in 
ignorance  of  human  nature  and  of  divine  require- 
ments, yet  these  sprang  up  from  sincere  desires  to 
escape  the  corruption  and  confusion  of  the  human 
passions,  then  boiling  and  heaving  like  the  storm- 
tossed  ocean. 

The  Italian  founder  of  the  Benedictine  order,  for 
instance,  seems  to  have  been  actuated  by  the  purest 
motives  in  organizing  his  powerful  society.  Com- 
bining in  himself  profound  genius,  vast  erudition, 
and  a  spirit  of  earnest  meditation,  he  undertook  to 
construct  an  ark  within  the  ark  of  the  Church, 
whence  the  three  mortal  sins,  indolence,  self-will, 
and  selfishness,  might  be  excluded,  and  industry, 
obedience,  and  a  community  of  property,  secure 
their  extirpation  from  the  heart. 

But,  however  good  his  motives,  his  order  became 
the  enemy  of  the  spiritual  light  afterward  to  dawn 
upon  the  world  ;  while  the  service  it  rendered  to 
letters  cannot  be  too  much  commended. 


26  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Brother  Martin  was  a  monk  living  in  the  darkest 
period.  He  wrote  out  a  confession  worthy  of  the 
days  of  Luther  ;  and,  placing  it  in  a  box,  he  buried 
it  in  the  walls  of  his  cell,  where  it  was  found  many 
years  afterward.  On  it  was  inscribed,  "  Although 
I  cannot  confess  these  things  with  my  tongue,  yet 
I  confess  them  with  my  heart,  and  in  writing." 

There  has  been  many  a  monk  like  Tauler,  who 
walked  with  God.  We  cannot,  it  is  true,  recognize 
a  large  portion  of  the  Mystics  of  Germany  and 
France  —  the  Brothers  and  Sisters  of  the  Free 
Spirit,  les  Trembleurs  de  Cevennes  or  the  French 
Prophets,  the  Beghards  —  as  other  than  fanatics. 
And  yet  they  lived  in  a  day,  the  tone  and  manners 
of  which  we  are  unable  to  imagine,  —  an  age  of 
intense  excitements,  which  would  have  disturbed 
the  balance  of  many  a  spirit  regarded  among  us 
as  moderate  and  prudent. 

We  must  recognize  our  own  incompetency 
always  to  draw  the  true  line  of  division.  There 
are  many  religious  excitements  which  begin  in  the 
Spirit,  but  end  in  the  flesh ;  starting  from  an  im- 
pulse of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  coming,  at  length, 
under  the  control  of  him  whose  employment  and 
enjoyment  is  found  in  marring  all  that  is  good. 
In  fact,  this  constitutes  true  wisdom  in  every 
department  of  life,  —  to  avoid  undiscriminating 
judgments.  Judge  doctrines,  principles,  systems, 
candidly  but  firmly.  Judge  men  and  parties  with 
great  deliberateness  and  charity.      Make  a  wide 


SPURIOUS   REVIVALS.  27 

difference  between  withholding  your  influence 
from  a  party,  person,  or  measure,  and  opposing  or 
unqualifiedly  censuring  them.  Many  a  man  is 
better  than  his  theories  or  his  party,  as  many  a 
man  is  worse  than  either.  We  should,  for  in- 
stance, hesitate  to  form  an  unqualified  judgment 
concerning  the  doctrines  and  life  of  George  Fox 
and  Robert  Barclay.  Fanaticism  and  delusion 
are  very  manifest  in  these  men,  but  also  much 
that  is  good.  And  so  it  may  be  unwise  in  us 
to  condemn,  without  qualification,  the  Fifth-Mon- 
archy men,  the  earlier  Beghards,  and  the  Lollards. 
There  is  much  that  is  unsound  in  the  party 
calling  themselves  "  Brethren  of  the  Life  in 
Common."  Yet  it  was  that  party  who  founded 
the  institutions  called  Houses,  partly  literary, 
partly  missionary,  in  which  so  many  German  youth 
received  a  truly  Christian  education,  and  where  so 
many  copies  of*-  the  Scripture  were  written  out ;  in 
which  originated  the  biblical  instruction  of  Ger- 
many, her  great  march  in  theology  and  classical 
learning ;  and  that  furnished  the  instructor  of 
Staupitz  and  Luther.  We  admire  much  in  Fene- 
lon  and  Madame  Guyon,  yet  cannot  commend 
them  unqualifiedly,  nor  the  type  of  piety  they 
represent. 


SECOND   LECTURE. 

Spurious  Revivals  {continued). 

A  FEW  remarks  may  be  added  in  reference  to 
spurious  revivals.  A  profound  observer  of  men 
and  Providence  has  suggested  this  explanation  of 
many  erratic  social  movements.  When  the  plans 
of  Providence  are  approaching  their  maturity,  and 
some  new  truth  is  about  to  enter  the  current  of 
human  thought,  there  are  found  persons  of  pecu- 
liar temperament,  who  are  among  the  first  to  feel 
the  approaching  change,  and  seize  the  idea,  in  its 
fragmentary  form  of  manifestation,  and  who  pluck 
the  unripe  fruit,  and  poison  themselves  and  others 
with  its  crude  juices.  Elated  with  their  discovery, 
they  attack  the  established  order  and  convictions 
rudely  and  unwisely,  and  present  the  coming  truth 
in  caricature. 

I  so  regard  the  spiritism  of  our  day  and  the  social- 
ism. The  former  distorts  the  great  fact,  that  we 
ought  in  reality  to  be  more  conversant  with  spirit 
than  with  matter :  the  latter  caricatures  the 
grand  principle  of  political  democracy,  which,  to 
be  healthful  and  harmonious,  must  be  founded  on 

28 


SPURIOUS   REVIVALS.  29 

the  theocracy  of  the  New  Testament  and  the 
brotherly-love  of  the  Christian  fraternity. 

Conservative  men  here  make  their  chief  mistakes ; 
not  discriminating  the  wheat  from  the  chaff,  —  the 
grand  truth  that  is  to  shape  the  future,  from  its 
rude  envelope.  It  was  a  noble  declaration,  verified 
in  the  life  of  its  author  (F.  W.  Robertson) :  "  I 
am  no  more  afraid  of  a  truth  because  Pantheism 
has  it,  than  I  am  of  another  because  revolution  has 
caricatured  it  into  deviltry." 

The  history  of  Islamism  may  be  selected  as 
another  illustration  of  a  work  commencing  in  a 
true  reforming  spirit,  and  ending  in  fraud  and 
violence.  Carlyle  fails  to  make  the  true  distinc- 
tion and  inference,  when  he  attributes  its  endur- 
ance to  its  truthfulness.*  Islamism  and  Popery 
endure,  just  as  Paganism  endures,  because  they  all 
have  elements  of  religion  in  them ;  thus  meeting 
the  religious  sentiment  of  the  human  heart,  while, 
at  the  same  time,  the  forms  of  religion  they  pre- 
sent are  suited  to  the  permanent  perverted  disposi- 
tions of  that  heart. 

Mohammed's  protest  against  the  polytheism  and 
idolatry  of  his  day,  even  as  seen  in  the  Church, 
appears  to  have  been  the  fruit  of  a  genuine  reli- 
gious impulse.  It  soon  fell,  however,  under  the 
control  of  the  baser  passions,  and  became  a  blas- 
phemous, marauding,  lying,  murderous  despotism 
and  fanaticism. 

*  Heroes  :  Mohammed. 


30  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Puseyism  has  something  to  say  for  itself.  With 
sociahsm  and  spiritism,  it  protests  against  either 
the  formahsm,  the  exclusiveness,  or  the  material- 
ism of  the  age.  But  they  are  not  Revivals  of 
pure  religion,  because  their  intellectual  origin  was 
not  the  word  of  God;  nor  are  their  results  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 

While  we  may  admire  the  earnestness  of  soul, 
the  tenacity  of  purpose,  the  martyr-spirit,  displayed 
by  many  of  the  leaders  and  proselytes,  we  must 
regard  with  disapprobation  the  various  erroneous 
notions,  the  antagonism  to  the  Lord  of  glory, 
which  have  characterized  these  several  move- 
ments. 

I  hesitate,  indeed,  in  forming  a  judgment  con- 
cerning that  great  impulse  which  actuated  the  Trac- 
tarian  party  in  the  Anglican  Church.  Revering, 
as  we  must,  the  purity  of  spirit  in  its  first  and 
second  leaders,  Keble  and  Newman,  we  cannot 
forget  that  the  first  of  these  was  a  morbid  worship- 
per of  the  past,  as  if  it  had  any  more  real  value 
than  the  present ;  that  the  second  finally  plunged 
into  the  whirlpool  of  the  most  corrupt  and  corrupt- 
ing form  of  heresy,  the  vileness  of  which  he  seems 
not  yet  to  have  discovered  ;  and  that  so  fair  a  mind 
as  that  of  Thomas  Arnold  charged  the  whole  fra- 
ternity with  the  unfairness  of  Jesuits. 

And  while  not  disposed  to  submit  our  judgment 
to  the  opinions  of  the  brilliant  Frederick  W.  Robert- 
son, yet  it  should  have  some  weight  with  us,  that 


SPURIOUS    REVIVALS.  3 1 

he,  when  at  Oxford,  knowing  the  leaders,  watching 
the  movement,  and  himself  drav/n  to  the  outer 
circle  of  its  vortex,  thus  writes,  ''  I  have,  in  a  meas- 
ure, waked  out  of  a  long  trance,  partly  caused  by 
the  paralyzing  effects  of  this  Oxford  delusion-heresy. 
And,  to  know  it,  a  man  must  live  here,  and  he  will 
see  the  promising  and  ardent  men  sinking,  one 
after  another,  in  a  deadly  torpor,  wrapped  up  in 
self-contemplation,  dead  to  their  Redeemer,  and 
useless  to  his  Church,  under  the  baneful  breath  of 
this  accursed  upas-tree ;  accursed,  because,  I  believe, 
the  curse  of  God  will  fall  upon  it.  He  has  de- 
nounced the  Papal  heresy ;  and  he  is  no  respecter 
of  persons  to  punish  the  name,  and  not  the  reality. 
I  despond  when  I  see  the  rapidly  developed  work- 
ing* of  the  Tractarian  views,  which  are  an  indirect 
denial  of  the  foundation.  How  strange  that  '  yoke 
of  bondao^e,'  as-ainst  which  Paul  warned  the  Gala- 
tians,  steals  around  our  necks,  even  when  we  think 
we  are  most  entirely  free  from  any  idea  of  self- 
justification.  As  a  system,  it  will  not  produce  even 
as  noble  an  animal  as  the  dog." 

Yet  fairness  requires  me  to  produce  another  wit- 
ness. "  The  North  British  Review,"  Presbyterian 
as  it  is,  thus  speaks  :  "  Keble  and  his  party  have 
introduced  into  the  English  Church  a  higher  order 
of  character,  and  taught  it,  we  might  almost  say, 
new  virtues.  They  have  diffused  widely  through 
the  clergy  the  contagion  of  their  own  zeal  and 
resoluteness,    their     self-devotion     and    Christian 


32  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

chivalry."  This  concession  is,  then,  qualified ;  stiD 
it  is  made. 

Our  King  has  informed  us,  that  sometimes  on  his 
farm,  although  the  soil  is  good,  and  well-prepared, 
although  his  servants  have  sowed  only  good  seed, 
nevertheless,  while  they  are  sleeping,  seasonably 
or  unseasonably,  the  enemy,  even  Satan,  scatters 
tares  over  the  field. 

The  Holy  Spirit's  work  may  be  marred.  Un- 
wonted religious  aspirations  may  be  awakened  in 
many  hearts  simultaneously.  This  is  the  element 
of  life  and  power  in  many  a  movement  that  becomes 
finally  irreligious.  The  perverse  and  perverting 
spirit  turns  the  holy  impulse  into  a  wicked  channel. 
Hence  come  those  strange  mixtures  of  lofty  senti- 
ment, with  fanaticism  and  hatred  of  the  gospel, 
deceit,  cruelty,  and  pride.' 

§  H.  —  Defensive  View  of  Revivals. 

Revivals  have  always  been  unwelcome  to  certain 
classes,  and  some  of  these  including  truly  godly 
men,  whose  complaints  are  various.  And,  were  we 
investigating  merely  to  reach  conclusions  for  our- 
selves, the  whole  inquiry  would  turn  on  these 
points.  Is  the  Christian  religion  from  earth,  or 
from  heaven  .'*  Does  God  bestow  its  blessing  on 
this  form,  or  not  ? 

But  we  are  dealing  with  other  minds.  And 
while  our  defence  will  really  turn  on  these  two 
points,  and  be  a  defence  eitlier  of  some  essential 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS.  33 

features  of  Christianity,  or  of  this  manifestation  of 
it,  we  shall  not  confine  ourselves  to  any  abstract 
view  of  the  subject,  but  take  up  the  concrete  popu- 
lar objections  as  we  find  them. 

And  this  is  our  division  of  the  topic,  —  popular 
objections;  theological  objections;  philosophical  ob- 
jections ;  some  of  them  referring  to  the  ver}^  essence 
of  religion,  some  to  the  essential  elements  of  Re- 
vivals, some  to  their  incidents,  some  to  imaginary 
evils.     We  begin  with 

I. — The  Popular  Objections. 
It  is  said,  — 

I .  "  Revivals  are  Seasons  of  Unhealthful  and 
Disoi'ganizing  Excitement!'  — I  remember  the  time 
when  the  opposition  to  Revivals  on  the  part  of  reli- 
gious and  irreligious  men  was  even  fierce.  That 
state  of  things  has  almost  ceased.  It  will  not  be 
surprising,  however,  if  this  intense  hostility  shall 
be  renewed,  when  the  power  of  the  Spirit  shall 
come  to  be  felt  in  new  forms,  and  breaking  over 
certain  barriers  thus  far  effectual  against  him  ;  for 
"  he  who  now  letteth  will  let,  until"  these  barriers 
*'be  taken  out  of  the  way."* 

I  wish,  then,  to  suggest  to  you  to  be  tolerant  of 
the  opposition  of  good  men  to  Revivals.  If  they 
have  ever  seen  one,  it  may  have  been  so  full  of 
human  imperfections,  that  their  opposition  is,  at 
least,  greatly  palliated.     Then,  again,  it  has   been 

*  2  Thess.  ii.  7. 


34  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

well  said,  that  even  conservatism  has  its  place  and 
its  uses :  it  is  the  ''  brake "  to  the  railroad  car, 
retarding  its  progress  indeed,  but  making  it  only 
the  more  safely  reach  its  destination. 

In  our  day,  we  have  passed  through  painful  con- 
troversies about  Revivals.  Possibly  you  may  have 
to  take  an  antagonistic  posture  in  regard  to  them 
before  you  shall  have  finished  your  ministry. 

Be  firm,  then,  but  forbearing.  A  man  may  be 
honest  in  opposing  a  good  thing  ;  though  the  proba- 
bilities are  against  his  being  honest. 

Where  Revivals  begin  to  shake  old  religious 
notions,  institutions,  and  customs,  where  the  pres- 
sure from  Heaven  begins  to  show  a  divine  energy, 
you  may  expect  opposition  from  good  men  as  well 
as  bad  men. 

Froude  has  well  said,  "  Periods  of  religious  trans- 
ition, when  the  advance  has  been  a  real  one, 
always  have  been  violent.  They  to  whom  the 
precious  gift  of  fresh  light  has  been  given  are 
called  upon  to  exhibit  their  credentials  as  teachers 
in  suffering  for  it.  They,  and  those  who  oppose 
them,  have  alike  a  sacred  cause ;  and  the  fearful 
spectacle  arises,  of  earnest,  vehement  men  con- 
tending against  each  other,  as  for  their  own  souls, 
in  fiery  struggle." 

Now,  we  inquire  whether  this  objection  refers  to 
the  exercise  of  the  affections,  or  to  the  degree  of 
their  enlistment  in  these  seasons.  If  to  the 
former,  we  make  open  issue  with  the  objector,  main- 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS.  35 

taining  that  religion  has  its  seat  alike  in  each 
department  of  the  human  soul,  —  the  understand- 
ing, the  will,  and  the  sensibilities ;  that  it  awakens 
and  sustains  desire,  joy,  hope,  fear,  love,  repent- 
ance, sympathy,  gratitude,  humility.  That  must  be 
a  dead  piety  which  leaves  these  affections  unmoved. 

Again  is  the  objection  to  the  degree  of  excite- 
ment ?  Then  we  inquire  for  the  standard  we  are 
to  employ.  If  it  is  any  other  than  the  word  of 
God,  then  we  have  no  reply;  for  we  obtain  our 
religion  from  that  source.  But,  if  that  is  the  stand- 
ard, then  we  refer  \o  the  various  exhibitions  of 
religious  feelings  there  recorded,  —  some  as  pro- 
duced by  divine  interposition  directly,  some  by 
inspired  apostles  and  prophets. 

When  God  revealed  himself  on  Sinai,  *'  all  the  peo- 
ple that  was  in  the  camp  trembled  ; "  *  and  their  ex- 
clamation was, ''  Let  not  God  speak  with  us,  lest  we 
die."  t  And  so  terrible  was  the  sight,  that  Moses 
said,  "  I  exceedingly  fear  and  quake."  $  The  devils, 
too,  believe  and  tremble.  Are  we  so  much  wiser 
than  Moses,  or  stouter  than  the  devils,  that  a  sight 
of  the  Holy  One  could  not  make  us  tremble  too  ? 

Jehovah  makes  the  appeal,  whether  his  word  is 
not  like  the  fire  and  hammer.  And  it  is  said  to  be 
sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing  to  the 
inmost  soul.  So  that,  when  Peter  preached,  the 
people  were  cut  to  the  quick,  and  cried  out 
in  the  assembly,  "What  shall  we  do .? "  §     Jesus 

*  Ex.  xix.  i6,       t  Ex.  XX.  19.       |  Heb.  xii.  21.       §  Acts  ii.  ^y. 


36  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

only  looked  on  Peter,  and  that  look  caused  him  to 
go  out  and  weep  bitterly. 

There  was  a  Revival  in  Ezra's  day ;  and,  whatever 
we  may  say  about  Jewish  methods  of  expressing 
feeling,  we  must  admit  that  their  feelings  were 
human,  if  the  demonstrations  of  them  were  Jew- 
ish. He  says,  when  he  heard  of  the  people's  con- 
duct at  that  time,  "  I  rent  my  garment  and  my  man- 
tle, and  plucked  off  the  hair  of  my  head  and  of  my 
beard,  and  sat  down  astonished."  *  And,  when  he 
closed  his  prayer  of  confession,  the  people,  not  as 
Jews,  but  as  men,  "wept  very  sore." 

When  God  revealed  himself  to  Job,  the  patri- 
arch exclaimed,  "  I  abhor  myself,  and  repent  in 
dust  and  ashes."  f 

The  Psalms  reveal  to  us  the  relations  of  piety  to 
man's  emotional  faculties.  ''My  heart  j^anteth : 
my  strength  faileth  me.  I  am  troubled :  I  am 
bowed  down  greatly.  The  sacrifices  of  God  are  a 
broken  spirit."  *'  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn, 
that  hunger  after  righteousness."  "  My  soul  thirst- 
eth  after  God.  Make  me  to  hear  joy  and  glad- 
ness, that  the  bones  which  thou  hast  broken  may 
rejoice.  My  lips  shall  rejoice  when  I  sing  unto 
thee.  Serve  the  Lord  with  gladness.  I  will  be 
glad  in  the  Lord.  When  the  Lord  turned  again 
the  captivity  of  Zion,  then  was  our  mouth  filled 
with  laughter,  and  our  tongue  with  singing.  Let 
the  saints  be  joyful  in  glory." 

*  Ezra  ix.  3.  f  Job  xlii.  6. 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS.  37 

These  are  but  specimen  quotations ;  and  they 
certainly  should  serve  to  settle  the  question  for  any 
person  who  looks  to  the  Scriptures  for  his  views  of 
religion. 

Some  persons  are  particularly  scandalized  by 
the  excitement  of  fear  and  terror.  But  surely  the 
blame,  if  merited,  belongs  to  the  Bible  itself  and 
its  Author,  to  Christ  and  his  doctrines.  If  any  one 
can  deny  that  the  Lord  Jesus  aims  to  alarm  men, 
we  have  no  encouragement  to  reason  with  that 
person,  or  to  answer  his  objections.  Woe  unto  thee, 
Capernaum,  *'  thou  shalt  be  thrust  down  to  hell."  * 
**  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  f 
What  state  of  mind  were  such  words  designed  to 
produce  ?  What  emotions  do  they  stir,  if  not  those 
of  fear  and  terror  ? 

If,  then,  the  question  is  about  degrees  of  alarm,' 
reasoning  cannot  aid  us  greatly,  as  neither  the  ob- 
jector nor  we  can  claim  to  have  an  absolute  standard. 

If  the  complaint  is,  that  these  extraordinary 
seasons  make  the  ordinary  religious  services  seem 
flat  and  insipid,  I  reply  by  a  reference  to  the  whole 
analogy  of  Nature.  The  joy  of  the  harvest  is 
in  strong  contrast  with  sowing  in  tears.  But 
would  there  not  be  more  tears,  and  less  sowing,  if 
the  excitement  of  the  harvest  were  not  in  the  pro- 
gramme ?  God  has  not  made  any  portion  of  hu- 
man life  a  dead  level.  He  inclined  the  earth's  axis 
to  its  line  of  motion  around  the  sun,  that  there 

*  Luke  X.  15.  t  Luke  xiii.  3. 

4 


38  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

might  be  seed-time  and  harvest,  short  rainy  days, 
and  long  days  of  sunshine. 

Recall  the  testimony  of  the  most  acute,  candid, 
spiritual  minds  to  the  effect  of  Revivals.  President 
"i  Edwards,  speaking  of  the  high  excitement  they 
occasion,  describes  quite  fully  its  character. 

The  mere  perusal  of  his  statement  seems  like 
breathing  the  atmosphere  of  heaven.  There  is  in 
it  no  trace  of  animal  passion,  of  nervous  delirium, 
of  an  unhealthful  disturbance  of  the  bodily  or  the 
mental  functions.  The  excitement  he  manifests  is 
the  direct,  designed,  legitimate  result  of  the  action 
of  the  word  and  Spirit  of  God,  and  leads  to  the  pos- 
session of  heavenly.  Christlike  dispositions.  He 
calls  it  a  being  swallowed  up  with  light  and  love,  a 
sweet  solace,  rest  and  joy  of  soul  altogether  unspeak- 
able, continuing  long  in  a  clear  and  lively  sense  or 
view  of  the  infinite  beauty  and  amiableness  of 
Christ's  person,  and  the  heavenly  sweetness  of  his 
excellent  and  transcendent  love ;  so  that  the  soul 
remained  in  a  kind  of  heavenly  elysium."  Thus 
that  grave,  cautious  writer  continues  through  four- 
teen pages,  in  a  strain,  it  must  be  seen,  quite  uncom- 
mon in  our  branch  of  the  Church  now,  perhaps, 
however,  none  the  less  desirable. 

In  "The  Post  Boy"  of  June  23,  1740,  appeared 
the  following :  "  Field-preaching  prevails  with  the 
vulgar  here,  so  much  that  industry,  honest  labor, 
and  care  for  their  families,  with  many,  seems  to  be 
held  as  sinful,  and  as  a  mark  of  neglect  for  the  sal- 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS.  39 

vation  of  their  souls.  Mr.  Whitefield  and  his  ad- 
herent ministers  have  filled  the  multitude  with  the 
doctrines  of  regeneration,  free  grace,  conversion, 
etc.,  after  their  peculiar  way  of  thinking,  as  essen- 
tial articles  of  salvation,  though  inconsistent  with 
true  religion,  natural  or  revealed,  subversive  of  all 
order  and  decency,  and  repugnant  to  common-sense. 
We  have  daily  instances  of  the  melancholy  fruits 
of  these  sermons.  Many  naturally  timorous,  and  of 
weak  minds,  are  terrified  into  despair  with  their  de- 
nouncing, and  their  threatening  eternal  vengeance." 

With  those  who  accept  the  Scripture  as  the 
word  of  God,  such  opposition  has  no  force.  Not 
that  we  would  venture  the  assertion  that  genuine 
believers  have  not  fallen  into  the  snares  of  Satan  in 
this  matter.  Familiarity  with  the  Bible  would  show 
all  such  that  the  Lord  Jesus  expects  great  personal 
struggles  to  take  place,  and  terrible  social  conflicts 
and  commotions  ;  but  they  have  determined  that 
the  progress  of  godliness  shall  be  quiet,  and  not 
agitating,  smooth  and  noiseless,  never  racking  soci- 
ety to  its  depths. 

But  they  find  nothing  of  the  kind  in  God's  word, 
prophetic,  or  historical,  or  doctrinal.  The  stone 
that  comes  supernaturally  from  the  mountain  to 
crush  the  fortresses  which  Satan  has  made,  must 
be  a  very  disturbing  element ;  for  it  is  as  an 
avalanche  rolling  down  upon  kingdoms  and  in- 
stitutions, grinding  them  to  powder,  scattering 
them  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven,  that  it  may  fill 


40  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

the  earth.*  Then  notice  the  mihtary  imagery  of 
the  Bible.  And  has  not  the  history  of  Christianity 
been  a  history  of  struggles  with  unbelief  and  su- 
perstition ?  "I  saw  heaven  opened,  and,  behold,  a 
white  horse  ;  and  he  that  sat  upon  him,  in- righteous- 
ness doth  judge  and  make  war."  f 

"  I  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword."  f  Is 
not  this  a  war-proclamation  from  the  King  ? 

This  notion,  then,  never  was  derived  from  the 
Scripture,  that  the  advance  of  Christ's  kingdom 
shall  be  smooth  and  peaceful.  On  the  contrary,  up 
to  the  consummation,  we  learn  from  the  very  first 
prophetic  utterance,  the  promise  given  in  Eden, 
which  is  the  key  of  history  which  lifts  the  veil 
from  the  entire  future,  that  good  is  to  be  in  perpet- 
ual conflict  with  evil,  through  time ;  that  Christ  is 
not  to  employ  mere  omnipotence  in  the  struggle ; 
nay,  his  heel,  though  it  ultimately  crushes  the  ser- 
pent's head,  must  first  itself  be  wounded.  The 
promise  to  Abraham  assumes,  that,  through  his  great 
offspring,  the  final  redemption  is  to  come.  But  the 
cross  and  the  sepulchre  lie  between  the  giving  of 
that  promise  and  its  fulfilment,  for  the  head  and 
the  members  equally.  It  is  not  a  quiet,  unobtru- 
sive, conservative,  ceremonial  piety,  but  an  agitat- 
ing, aggressive,  revolutionary  religion,  our  Lord  has 
bequeathed  to  us,  —  one  that  draws  on  itself  hatred 
and  persecution. 

The  enemy  will  continue  to  sow  tares  in  the 

*  Dan.  ii.  44,  45.  f  Rev.  xix.  11.  f  Matt.  x.  34. 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS.  4I 

Lord's  wheat-field  :  good  and  bad  fish  will  enter  his 
net.  The  ark  may  sometimes  be  carried  from 
Shiloh  to  Dagon's  temple. 

The  bruising  of  the  Redeemer's  heel  refers  to 
seasons  of  depression,  and  to  Satan's  temporary- 
triumphs.  The  entire  book  of  the  Apocalypse  sets 
forth  that  feature  of  the  kingdom.  The  beast  must 
have  his  brief  period  of  ascendency. 

When  the  fiery  flood  burst  under  the  dynasties 
of  Europe,  in  1848,  a  clergyman  of  England  thus 
uttered  his  feelings  :  "  The  world  has  become  a  new 
one  since  we  met.  To  my  mind,  it  is  a  world  full 
of  hope,  even  to  bursting.  Some  outlines  of  a 
kingdom  of  Christ  begin  to  glimmer,  albeit  very 
faintly.  Nevertheless,  a  few  strokes  of  the  rough 
sketch  by  a  master  hand  are  worth  the  seeing. 
And  these  bold,  free,  dashing  marks  are  made  too 
plainly  to  be  ever  done  out  again,  —  made  in  blood, 
as  they  always  are,  and  made  somewhat  rudely ; 
but  the  master  hand  is  visible  through  the  great 
red  splotches  on  the  canvas  of  the  universe." 

If  man  had  formed  the  plan  of  history,  he  would, 
probably,  have  secured  an  altogether  very  clock-work 
arrangement,  a  regular  steady  advance  from  be- 
ginning to  end ;  no  agitations,  no  civil  wars  nor  any 
wars,  no  revivals  nor  reformations,  no  declensions 
of  persons,  communities,  or  epochs.  So,  probably, 
he  would  have  built  up  this  globe  without  an  epoch 
of  chaos,  of  fire  and  flood,  with  none  of  those  tre- 
mendous upheavings  which  have  actually  occurred. 


42  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

But  SO  it  has  not  pleased  the  Creator  to  build 
this  globe,  nor  to  advance  his  kingdom  upon  it.  Let 
us,  then,  all  cease  searching  in  the  past,  or  v^aiting 
in  the  future,  for  a  faultless  Revival.  How  can  we 
have  a  perfect  work,  when  the  material,  tools,  and 
workmen  are  all  very  imperfect  ? 

But  this  objection  reaches  still  further.  It  founds 
itself  on  the  principle  that  "  the  concentration  of 
the  mind  on  any  subject  is  physically  unhealthful, 
morally  injurious,  and  every  way  incompatible  with 
the  claims  of  life  and  society.  And  this  is  emi- 
nently true  of  religious  excitements." 

Now,  if  this  position  accord  with  facts,  then  an 
immense  reform  in  society  will  be  necessary ;  for 
you  will  observe  that  religion,  in  this  respect,  is  but 
a  sharer  in  the  common  evil  of  human  existence. 
The  evil,  if  such  it  be,  affects  equally  every  depart- 
ment of  life.  The  objection  is  to  concentrated 
attention  as  in  itself  an  absolute  evil.  But  what  is 
to  become  of  scholarship  and  mental  discipline, 
commerce,  the  fine  arts,  the  useful  arts,  philosophy, 
science,  political  interests,  education,  if  men  are  to 
cease  concentrating  thought  and  feeling  on  specific 
objects.'*  "  Totus  in  mis''  is  the  Pagan  maxim. 
''  Be  a  whole  man  to  one  thing  at  a  time,"  is  Lord 
Brougham's  maxim.     "'/?r  tovroi^  '('gO:  "  is  apostolic. 

But  if  we  should  grant  that  health  suffers,  and 
some  interests  of  life  are  neglected,  has  not  the 
good  sense  of  the  world  determined  that  one  good 
object  may  wisely  be  sacrificed  for  another  and  a 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS.  43 

better?  No  one  objects  to  the  seaman,  or  soldier, 
or  congressman  leaving  his  family,  not  to  attend 
two  religious  services  daily  for  a  month,  but  to  spend 
a  month,  six  months,  a  year,  away.  Wise  men  and 
women  generally  concentrate  much  time,  thought, 
and  feeling  on  arranging  for  a  life-companionship. 

Now,  to  this  entire  class  of  affirmations,  we  pre- 
sent a  positive  denial.  That  some  persons  attend 
a  religious  service  when  prudence  would  have  pre- 
vented such  attendance,  is  certainly  true ;  some 
persons  also  eat  when  prudence  demands  absti- 
nence, but  it  is  not  a  sound  inference  that  there- 
fore no  one  should  eat. 

The  real  questions  here  to  be  met  are  two.  The 
one  is.  Will  mankind  be  more  benefited,  or  injured, 
by  Revivals  of  religion,  time  and  eternity  being 
taken  into  the  calculation  }  So  far  as  the  decision 
leaves  out  of  view  all  the  supernatural  and  eternal 
relations  of  Revivals,  we  have  no  dispute.  Our 
discussion  here  is  with  those  who  agree  with  us  on 
these  points  ;  and  to  them  we  are  fully  prepared 
to  show  that  there  is  no  room  for  question,  —  that 
any  evils  incidental  to  genuine  Revivals  are  but 
spots  on  the  sun's  disk. 

The  other  question  is.  How  may  we  diminish 
these  evils .''  I  would  reply  in  one  sentence.  Go 
straight  forward.  There  is  no  repetition,  in  our 
day,  of  the  scenes  of  1 740  and  1 800 ;  and  the  rea- 
sons for  this  are  very  obviously  to  be  found  in  the 
instructions   and   cautions  of  wise  men,  in   such 


44  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

writings  as  Edwards's  discriminating  discussion, 
and  a  very  increased  study  of  God's  holy  word. 

There  is  occasion  for  every  candid  person  to 
make  this  discrimination.  While  we  admit  that 
many  evils  and  abuses  accompany  Revivals,  we 
maintain  that  they  are  incidental  to  them,  and  for 
the  most  part,  and  increasingly,  separable  from 
them. 

One,  however,  we  admit  to  be  inherent  and  in- 
separable.    It  is,  —   • 

2.  The  very  Necessity  for  Revivals.  —  It  has  been 
said  frequently,  "  We  ought  not  to  need  them.  If 
the  Church  were  faithful,  she  would  never  have 
occasion  for  them."  But  if  she  never  has  been  so 
faithful,  and  should  not  be  so  in  our  day,  what 
then  }  Let  us  try  this  objection  by  applying  it  to 
the  art  of  healing.  Men  ought  not  to  become 
sick,  or  to  be  wounded.  Suppose  that  were  true. 
And  yet  they  do  become  sick  :  is  that  an  objection 
to  the  medical  art }  Shall  we,  therefore,  discard  the 
practice  and  the  practitioners  ?  Why  not  go  fur- 
ther still  with  this,  and  say,  Man  ought  never  to 
have  become,  a  sinner :  therefore  we  object  to  re- 
demption and  the  gospel  1  But  if  you  accept  our 
definition  of  Revivals,  as  embracing  the  indirect 
as  well  as  the  direct,  you  have  an  answer  to  this 
objection.  Doctrinal  Revivals  must  be  periodical. 
Look  at  all  the  history  of  intellectual  progress.  It 
is  irregular, —  progress  now,  now  a  rest;  declension, 
then  revival.     A  mere  doctrine  of  human  reason, 


POPULAR    OBJECTIONS.  45 

like  the  right  of  property  or  wages,  comes  into 
popular  belief  spasmodically ;  much  more  the  doc- 
trines of  the  divine  reason  supernaturally  com- 
municated to  one  or  a  few  persons.  How  much 
more,  then,  may  we  expect  the  emotional  and  the 
voluntary  powers  to  act  spasmodically,  if  the  intel- 
lect follows  that  law ! 

And  again,  besides  the  excessive  feeling,  it  is 
alleged,  — 

3.  That  VarioiLS  Extravagances  are  connected  with 
them.  —  We  need  but  glance  at  these ;  for  from 
various  causes,  some  quite  obvious,  they  are  ceasing 
to  exist.  "  The  neglect  of  common  duties  "  has 
been  charged  upon  Revivals.  This  is  vague,  and 
scarcely  deserves  a  reply  in  this  general  form.  The 
reply  must  be  to  specific  cases  alleged.  And  then 
we  should  examine  two  points  in  each  case :  does  the 
objector  waste  no  time,  and  neglect  no  duty  }  and 
has  the  duty  neglected  a  superior  claim  to  the  duty 
discharged  by  attending  these  religious  services  } 

You  may  see  this  objection  well  answered  in 
President  Edwards's  ''  Thoughts,"  part  iii.  §  3. 

Another  objection  was  brought,  in  his  day, 
against  ''  too  much  singing,  bringing  children  to- 
gether, too  much  earnestness  in  warning  men,  and 
the  excessive  excitement  of  fear,  vociferous  preach- 
ing, and  relating  experiences."  All  of  these,  except 
the  last,  he  has  well  answered  ;  and  they  have  so  far 
passed  away,  that  we  need  not  further  notice  them. 

As  to  telling  experiences,  I  regard  President  Ed- 


46  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

wards  to  have  failed  in  the  exercise  of  his  admirable 
power  of  discrimination,  in  his  letter  to  Gillespie  of 
Carnock,  in  175 1.  It  is  a  point  of  much  interest, 
but  is  too  far  incidental  to  occupy  our  attention  at 
this  stage  of  our  study  of  Revivals.  There  Is  a 
right  way  and  a  wrong  way  of  doing  what  the 
Psalmist  engages  to  do  :  ''  Come  and  hear,  all  ye 
that  fear  God,  and  I  will  declare  what  he  hath  done 
for  my  soul."  * 

There  has  been,  also,  a  wrong  method  of  inspiring 
hopes  of  personal  salvation  in  individuals.  This  is 
a  serious  and  delicate  task.  Counsel,  warning, 
instruction,  invitation,  promise,  we  can  repeat  to 
every  human  being  as  such,  because  they  belong 
to  all.  But  the  case  is  altered  when  they  are  taken 
from  the  generic  form  in  which  God  has  expressed 
them,  and  made  specific.  It  is  one  thing  to  say,  "  If 
you  repent,  you  shall  be  forgiven,"  which  every  one 
has  a  right  to  say  to  every  one  :  it  is  another  thing 
to  say,  "  Thy  sins  are  forgiven."  Only  One  has 
authority  to  make  that  declaration. 

There  have  been  extravagances  of  spirit  in  con- 
ducting Revivals.  Among  the  most  prominent  on 
record  are  those  of  the  Rev.  James  Davenport,  a 
man  of  noble  ancestry  and  true  piety,  but  left  of 
God  to  fall  into  Satan's  snare.  He  checked  the 
glorious  revival  of  1 740,  and  afterward  repented 
of  his  madness,  but  too  late  to  prevent  the  mis- 
chief it  accomplished.  Charity  says  he  was  ito7i 
compos  mentis. 

*  Ps.  Ixvi.  16. 


POPULAR    OBJECTIONS.  47 

The  charge  of  "  idolizing  Revivals "  has  been 
brought  against  their  friends.  Dr.  Bushnell  says, 
"  The  difficulty  ia  with  us,  that  we  idolize  such  and 
such  scenes,  and  make  them  the  whole  of  our  reli- 
gion. They  are  the  harvest-times  of  conversion ; 
and  conversion  is  too  nearly  every  thing  with  us." 

If,  now,  the  writer  had  warned  Christians  against 
that  danger,  and  then  warned  them  against  another 
danger,  —  that  of  idolizing  his  favorite  notion  of 
"the  proper  culture  of  children  "  as  a  means  of  sav- 
ing a  lost  world,  —  he  would  have  met  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  case  more  fully. 

'' Bodily  exercises  "  have  brought  Revivals  under 
reproach.  In  1740,  much  of  this  was  witnessed  in 
New  England;  in  1859,  i^  Ireland.  We  hear  of 
them  in  Pagan  Rome,  entirely  apart  from  any 
Christian  influences ;  also  in  the  churches  of  the 
middle  ages,  as  in  G,ermany,  Scotland,  and  France. 
In  1688,  persons  in  Dauphinee,  France,  com- 
menced, in  sleeping  and  half-waking  ecstasies,  to 
exhort  others  to  repent,  speaking  fluently  and 
correctly,  though  in  their  ordinary  state  they 
could  use  only  a  provincial  patois.  The  number  of 
these  prophets  at  length  filled  Dauphinee  and  Lan- 
guedoc ;  and,  when  they  began  to  fail,  impure  fic- 
tions, and  even  demoniacal  prophecies,  succeeded 
in  their  place.  In  the  great  Methodist  movement 
in  England,  under  the  Wesleys,  these  disorders 
were  at  times  very  prominent.  Convulsions,  epi- 
lepsy,  leaping,    spinning  like    a    top,    convulsive 


48  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

lamentations,  vociferations,  and  trances,  were  com- 
mon occurrences.  These  nervous  agitations  varied 
in  their  forms ;  but  probably  all  may  be  ranked 
under  the  same  pathological  laws. 

In  the  South-western  States  of  this  country, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  they  were 
known  as  "the  jerks."  Mr.  Cartwright  describes 
them  as  seizing  all  classes  of  persons.  Horsemen, 
riding  up  to  disperse  a  camp-meeting,  were  ar- 
rested, at  the  very  boundaries  of  the  worshipping 
circle,  by  the  strange  affection,  and  were  the  more 
convulsed  the  more  they  resisted  the  impulse.  One 
describes  it  as  being  a  suspension  of  the  functions 
of  the  cerebrum,  and  a  corresponding  excitement 
of  the  cerebellum.  The  phenomena  of  gaping  may 
perhaps  illustrate,  to  some  extent,  the  great  power 
of  sympathy  in  nervous  affections.  Under  certain 
circumstances,  no  one  can  resist  the  infection. 

If  we  state  that  they  are  not  found  among  any 
people  possessing  general  intelligence,  and  a 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and  guided  by  judi- 
cious leaders,  we '  have  then  proved  that  they 
do  not  belong  to  Revivals  essentially.  Had  good 
Christian  men  understood  what  was  well  known  in 
Pagan  Rome,  this  scandal  might  have  been  spared. 
The  Romans  had  a  law  requiring,  if  any  one 
should  be  seized  with  epilepsy  during  the  assem- 
blage of  the  Comitia,  the  assembly  to  be  at  once 
dissolved.  They  had  so  much  of  this  in  their 
meetings,  that  it  received  the  name  of  morbus 
comitialis. 


POPULAR    OBJECTIONS.  49 

I  witnessed  something  of  the  kind  in  my  early 
ministerial  life.  Two  cases  occurred,  which  alarmed 
me.  One  was  that  of  a  young  lady,  who  swooned 
under  a  powerful  appeal  by  a  clergyman  who  was 
assisting  me.  The  other  was  a  gentleman,  who,  on 
the  morning  of  his  conversion,  became  delirious 
with  joy.  His  excitement  lasted  until  the  sleep  of 
the  next  night  restored  his  balance.  On  inquiry, 
it  appeared  that  the  lady  had  been  living  on  sugar- 
candy,  until  her  natural  appetite  was  destroyed, 
and  she  could  bear  no  excitement  of  any  kind.  In 
the  other  case,  the  gentleman,  an  active  merchant, 
had  nearly  starved  himself,  under  the  impression 
it  would  aid  his  religious  meditations.  Fuller  in- 
vestigation of  the  relation  of  the  gospel  to  man's 
sensibilities  relieved  me  from  any  anxiety  about 
making  intelligent  people  feel  too  much  on  the  sub- 
ject* 

*  Among  the  papers  in  the  editor's  possession  is  one  bearing  upon  these 
statements.  He  inserts  them,  even  at  the  risk  of  repetition,  inasmuch  as 
they  afford  a  more  clear  and  extended  narration  of  the  facts. 

Dr.  Kirk  says,  "  Early  in  the  history  of  the  Fourth  Church,  Albany,  I  was 
startled  by  two  occurrences  which  brought  before  me  the  inquiry,  '  Are  you 
not  producing  too  much  excitement  ? '  The  first  case  was  that  of  an  intelli- 
gent young  lady,  who,  while  Dr.  Parker  of  New  York  was  preaching,  fell  to 
the  floor  in  a  swoon.  The  other  was  the  case  of  a  man  in  middle  life.  He 
had  published  something  which  impeached  the  character  of  two  leading 
members  of  our  church.  Discovering  his  mistake,  unwilling  to  confess  to 
them,  he  sought  to  pacify  his  conscience  by  attending  one  of  our  special 
services.  The  arrow  of  the  Almighty  pierced  him.  He  retired  from  the 
meeting,  shut  himself  in  his  counting-room ;  and  the  first  I  heard  of  him 
was  that  he  was  crazy, 

"  I  had  entered  the  ministry  under  the  impression  that  the  truths  of  the 
Bible  were  designed  to  reach  the  human  mind  in  each  of  its  departments ; 
5 


5©  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

We  now  meet  a  peculiar  case,  in  v^hich  the  ques- 
tion, What  is  extravagant,  imprudent,  or  improper  ? 
divides  the  friends  of  Revivals.  The  Rev.  Charles 
G.  Finney  had  become  a  distinguished  agent  in 
promoting  Revivals,  at  the  time  when  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Nettleton  was  the  most  prominent  laborer  in  this 
work  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States.  The  lat- 
ter complained  of  the  former  as  fostering  a  spirit  of 
censoriousness,  attempting  to  displace  clergymen 
who  were  not  of  his  way  of  thinking,  praying  for 

that  the  intellect  must  perceive  the  truths  it  proclaims,  which  truths  are  ad- 
dressed directly  to  the  emotional  faculties ;  and  that,  through  the  reason 
and  the  feelings,  the  will  must  be  brought  to  a  right  decision.  A  God  of 
infinite  majesty,  power,  holiness,  justice,  and  mercy,  is  there  presented ;  a 
hell  of  interminable  shame,  anguish,  and  despair;  a  heaven  of  unending 
joy  and  unsullied  perfection ;  a  cross  of  bleeding  love ;  an  enemy  of  an- 
gelic subtlety  and  fiendish  malice  ;  a  gate,  difficult  of  entrance,  opening  on 
a  narrow  road  to  heaven ;  a  gate,  broad  and  enticing,  popular  and  accom- 
modating, opening  on  a  road*  suited  to  every  variety  of  tastes,  but  ending 
in  the  second  death.  If  men  were  to  hear  these  truths,  if  the  preacher, 
while  preaching,  were  himself  to  be  looking  at  these  realities,  I  could  not  con- 
ceive how  it  would  be  possible  for  him  or  his  hearers  to  put  their  emotional 
natures  in  a  sack,  and  keep  them  out  of  the  range  of  these  overwhelming 
realities.  I  accordingly  aimed  to  reach  the  emotions,  and  shall  while  I 
live. 

"  But  what  shall  I  do  with  cases  like  these?  If  women  are  to  swoon, 
and  men  turn  lunatics,  under  our  preaching,  there  must  be  something 
wrong.  Just  then  I  met  a  book  written  by  a  clergyman  in  Vermont, 
describing  the  influence  of  the  imagination.  I  remember  nothing  of  it,  but 
that  it  confirmed  my  belief  that  no  man  was  ever  made  crazy  merely  by 
believing  that  what  God  says  is  true,  by  being  affrighted  when  Christ  says, 
*  I  tell  you  whom  ye  shall  fear,'  &c.,  nor  by  rejoicing  when  God  says,  '  Re- 
joice always.' 

"  But  I  entered  at  once  upon  an  examination  of  these  cases..  I  found 
that  the  young  lady  had  been  indulging  in  the  use  of  sugar-candy  until 
her  appetite  for  solid  food  was  entirely  destroyed,  and  her  nervous  system 
entirely  unstrung.     I  concluded  it  was  the  candy,  and  not  the  gospel,  that 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS.  5 1 

persons  by  name  in  public  assemblies,  irreverence, 
and  even  ranting  in  prayer.  Of  the  last  he 
says,  ''  That  holy,  humble,  meek,  modest,  retiring 
form,  sometimes  called  '  the  spirit  of  prayer,'  and 
which  may  be  regarded  as  the  unfailing  precursor 
of  a  revival  of  Religion,  has  been  dragged  from  her 
closet,  and  so  rudely  handled  by  some  of  her  pro- 
fessed friends,  that  she  has  not  only  lost  all  her 
wonted  lovehness,  but  is  now,  in  some  places,  stalk- 
ing the  streets,  stark  mad." 

There  was  also  much  complaint  of  women  pray- 
ing in  public,  of  the  practice  of  making  the  cold- 
ness of  professors  a  constant  theme  of  reproach, 
while  the  monstrous  sins  of  spiritual  pride  and 
uncharitableness  were  prominently  manifested  by 
even  the  leaders  themselves. 


threw  her  to  the  floor.  I  found  the  man  had  brought  his  nervous  sys- 
tem into  a  very  abnormal  condition  by  the  use  of  tobacco.  It  is  my  present 
impression  that  he  went  to  his  counting-room  under  a  deep  consciousness  of 
sin,  and  passed  two  days  alone,  eating  nothing  but  a  few  crackers.  On  the 
morning  of  the  third  day,  he  accepted  Christ  as  his  Saviour,  and  experi- 
enced a  joy  which  his  nerv^ous  system  could  not  bear.  But  the  judicious 
care  of  a  kind  physician  in  one  day  restored  the  lost  balance.  I  concluded, 
in  this  case,  it  was  the  tobacco,  and  not  the  gospel,  which  unbalanced 
him. 

"  Religious  MELA^■CHOLY.  —  Subsequent  observation  has  brought 
me  to  two  conclusions  on  this  subject :  that  cases  of  mania  attributed  to  reli- 
gious causes  should  largely  be  interpreted  as  cause  and  effect  in  the  inverse 
direction  ;  that  the  mind  deranged,  from  whatever  cause,  naturally  is  affected 
and  occupied  by  subjects  containing  the  elements  of  grandeur  and  awful- 
ness ;  and  that  a  deranged  mind  occupied  with  religious  subjects  is  no 
more  a  cause  for  man's  neglecting  religion  than  derangements  from  com- 
mercial excitement,  or  the  social  i:ffections,  are  reasons  for  neglecting 
commerce;  or  refusing  to  exercise  the  tcclal  affections." 


52  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

To  correct  these  and  kindred  evils,  a  conven- 
tion of  prominent  clergymen  was  held  at  Leba- 
non, N.Y.,  in  v^hich  Drs.  Beecher,  Hawes,  and 
Beeman  took  leading  parts.  But  I  do  not  know 
that  any  thing  was  settled  by  it,  or  the  views 
of  any  person  modified  by  its  discussions  and 
decisions. 

As  I  am  now  called  upon  to  act  the  part  of  a 
critic,  historian,  and  teacher  on  this  subject,  how- 
ever reluctantly,  I  must  express  my  opinions  on 
even  such  eminent  men  and  their  measures. 

They  were  both  honest  and  earnest,  but  prob- 
ably had  not  reached  the  full  stature  of  humility 
and  meekness.  Mr.  Nettleton  censured  the  ''anx- 
ious-seat," as  it  was  then  called.  So  far  as  he 
used  the  odium  tJieologicimi,  and  censured  it  as  *'  a 
new  measure,"  he  was  not  quite  fair;  for  I  am  in- 
formed that  no  Revivalist  or  Evangelist  in  our  day 
has  so  abounded  in  new  measures,  contrivances,  and 
management,  as  he.  The  expediency  of  the  anx- 
ious-seat I  will  discuss  hereafter.  As  a  standing 
measure,  it  seems  to  me  very  undesirable ;  but  I 
have  seen  times  and  circumstances  in  which  it 
appeared  an  instrument  which  the  highest  wisdom 
would  employ. 

But,  on  some  points,  some  of  our  contemporaries 
appear  to  have  been  far  astray.  I  allude  to  irrev- 
erence in  addressing  the  Most  High ;  an  irreverent 
use  of  the  sacred  name  in  conversation ;  and  censo- 
rious, sarcastic,  handling  of  the  faults   of    Chris- 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS.  53 

tians.  As  an  instance  of  the  flippant  use  of  holy- 
names,  I  would  cite  one  used  by  an  officer  of  a 
church.  Speaking  of  a  certain  clergyman  not 
very  earnest  in  spiritual  things,  he  observed,  "  Oh ! 
he  is  not  a  Holy-Ghost  man."  In  regard  to  censo- 
riousness,  the  divine  injunction  seems  to  have 
been  forgotten  by  these  brethren:  "If^a  man  be 
overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye  which  are  spiritual  restore 
such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness ;  considering 
thyself,  lest  thou  also  be  tempted."  *  ''  Reprove, 
rebuke,  exhort,  with  all  long-suffering  and  doc- 
trine." t 

In  regard  to  prayer,  I  may  say  truly  I  have 
witnessed  horrible  things.  Suffice  it  to  say,  they 
were  no  essential  part,  however,  of  the  Revival. 
This  rule  is  settled :  that  Revival  which  does  not 
promote  humility  and  reverence  is  just  so  far 
deeply  defective.  How  can  mortal,  sinful  man, 
who  would  put  on  his  most  respectful  air  at  the 
entrance  of  an  earthly  prince,  play  his  pranks,  and 
blurt  out  his  coarseness,  in  the  very  face  of  the 
King  of  heaven  ? 

Another  objection  we  encounter,  if  urged  by 
unbelievers,  we  regard  as  only  a  part  of  their 
objection  to  the  entire  office  and  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  not  particularly  to  Revivals.  The  ob- 
jector really  denies  every  radical  change  of  the 
heart,  in  or  out  of  a  Revival. 

But  we  must  reply  to  it  when  used  by  those  who 

*  Gal.  vi.  I.  f  2  Tim.  iv.  2. 

5* 


54  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

believe  in  the  universal  need  of  regeneration.  The 
objection  is  this  :  — 

4.  ''Revivals  and  tJicir  Fniits  are  Superficial 
and  Ephemeral  Excitenientsy — True,  in  one 
sense,  Revivals  are  ephemeral :  so  are  spring 
and  seedtime,  and  harvest,  and  human  life :  even 
the  life  of  Jesus  on  earth  passed  quickly  away. 
But  the  fruits  do  not  perish  when  the  blossoms 
fall.  What  would  be  thought  of  a  farmer  ob- 
jecting to  planting  apple-trees,  because,  having 
counted  the  blossoms  for  several  seasons,  he  no- 
ticed two  great  evils,  —  the  blossoms  were  epheme- 
ral, and  the  apples  stood  to  the  blossoms  as  one  to 
ten  ?  Yes,  he  found  nine  hundred  and  eighty 
blossoms  promising  great  things.  They  awak- 
ened the  hope  of  nine  hundred  and  eighty  apples, 
all  as  full  of  beauty  as  those  pretentious  blossoms 
themselves.  And  what  did  he  find  at  last }  When 
there  had  been  time  enough,  and  sunbeams  enough, 
and  April  winds  enough,  and  rains  sufficient  to 
shake  off  half  of  them,  he  found  only  four  hun- 
dred and  ninety  apples,  most  of  them  small.  But 
where  were  the  other  four  hundred  and  ninety } 
Gone,  all  gone ;  their  fine  promises  all  broken. 
And  then,  in  the  autumn,  it  proved  that  only  one 
hundred  sound,  well-formed  apples  were  there. 

Now,  what  would  you  think  of  his  logic,  if  it 
came  to  this  conclusion.-^  —  ''Therefore  no  sensible 
man  will  ever  plant  another  apple-tree  until  he 
gets  one  that  will  produce  only  infallible  blossoms, 


POPULAR    OBJECTIONS.  55 

never  deceiving,  never  outnumbering  their  fruit, 
never  looking  any  gayer  or  whiter  than  the  sober 
russet  fruit  they  are  going  to  produce.  At  pres- 
ent my  business  of  pomoculture  is  brought  to  a 
stand  by  my  inexorable  and  infallible  logic." 

Mr.  Nettleton  testifies  thus :  ''  For  a  number  of 
years  I  have  kept  a  list  of  the  names  of  those  who 
have  hopefully  experienced  religion,  and  made  a. 
profession  of  it,  in  these  Revivals.  I  have  watched 
them  with  anxious  solicitude,  and  have  made  par- 
ticular inquiries  about  the  spiritual  welfare  of  each 
one,  as  opportunity  presented.  The  thousands  who 
have  professed  Christ  in  this  time  appear,  in  gene- 
ral, to  run  well.  Hitherto  I  think  they  have  ex- 
hibited more  of  the  Christian  temper,  and  a  better 
example,  than  the  same  number  who  have  pro- 
fessed religion  when  there  was  no  Revival." 

The  following  estimate  is  the  result  of  investiga- 
tion by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Tracy,  as  to  the  effects  of 
the  Revival  in  the  last  century  in  New  England. 
The  estimate  of  the  numbers  converted   durinsf  a 

o 

few  years  in  New  England,  he  finds  to  be  twenty- 
five  thousand  to  fifty  thousand.  One  hundred  and 
fifty  Congregational  churches  were  formed  in  less 
than  twenty  years.  Great  numbers  of  church- 
members  were  converted  in  them.  The  same 
proportion  of  conversions  in  our  day  would  amount 
to  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  At  White- 
field's  third  visit  to  America,  there  were  not  less 
than   twenty  ministers   around    Boston  who   were 


56  LECTURES    ON   REVIVALS. 

converted  under  his  ministry.  The  Revival  brought 
such  men  as  Bellamy  and  Hopkins  into  the  minis- 
try. It  overthrew  the  prevalent  notion,  that  an 
unconverted  ministry  might  be  tolerated.  That 
Revival  produced  Princeton  College,  and  thus  led 
to  the  founding  of  the  Theological  Seminary  in  its 
vicinity.  Dartmouth  College  came  from  the  same 
impulse.  It  led  to  the  formation  of  missionary 
societies ;  it  checked  the  progress  of  heresy ;  it 
corrected  the  current  views  of  religious  experience 
and  church-membership.  It  gave  a  mortal  wound 
to  parish  despotism  ;  and  then  Mr.  Tracy  cautiously 
suggests  its  influence  in  producing  the  independ- 
ence of  the  colonies.  That  may  be  difficult  to 
prove ;  and  yet  we  who  are  now  on  the  stage  have 
had  some  opportunity  to  see  what  effect  the  Revival 
of  Christian  zeal  had  in  resisting  the  Rebellion, 
'which  threatened  to  destroy  every  element  of  free- 
dom in  our  civil  institutions. 

Mr.  Finney  has  exhibited  at  length  what  he 
regards  as  the  causes  of  the  declension  of  Revivals. 
This  statement  may  be  exhaustive  of  the  subject; 
or  it  may  fail  to  meet  the  whole  case,  by  leaving 
no  room  for  the  sovereign  action  of  God's  free 
Spirit ;  by  which  I  mean  that  the  epochal  form  of 
the  work  of  Redemption  may  depend  on  causes 
totally  beyond  the  sphere  of  human  action  and 
feeling. 

He  says,  ''  A  Revival  will  stop  when  the  Church 
believes  it  is  going  to  cease ;  when  they  consent 


POPULAR    OBJECTIONS.  57 

that  it  should  cease ;  when  they  become  mechani- 
cal in  their  attempts  to  promote  it ;  when  they  think 
it  will  go  on  without  their  aid,  and  they  conse- 
quently turn  to  other  business  ;  when  they  become 
proud  of  its  greatness ;  when  they  are  exhausted 
by  labor ;  when  they  begin  to  speculate  about  doc- 
trines, or  to  proselyte  ;  or  when  they  refuse  to  ren- 
der to  the  Lord  according  to  the  benefits  they 
have  received ;  when  they  grieve  the  Spirit  by  for- 
getting their  dependence,  by  boasting,  or  by  under- 
valuing the  work  of  God ;  when  they  lose  the 
spirit  of  brotherly  love ;  when  they  cease  to  be  re- 
converted ;  when  they  refuse  to  practise  self-denial ; 
when  they  engage  in  controversies  about  meas- 
ures ;  when  the  Old  School  opposes,  and  the  New 
indulges,  a  bad  spirit ;  when  the  public  mind  is 
diverted  by  any  thing ;  resistance  to  the  temper- 
ance reformation  or  to  antislavery ;  neglect  of 
missions,  or  of  educating  men  for  the  ministry; 
ecclesiastical  difficulties ;  slandering  revivals,  cen- 
soriousness." 

These  he  considers  to  be  the  causes  of  decline. 
I  enumerate  them  in  this  connection,  simply  to  re- 
mark upon  them.  If  this  statement  is  exhaustive, 
it  shows  that  Revivals  are  not  the  cause  of  their 
own  ephemeral  character.  And,  before  leaving 
this  point,  it  may  be  desirable  to  correct  a  wrong 
impression  as  to  the  degeneracy  of  Revivals.  It 
has  been  said,  that,  for  three  centuries,  the  wave  of 
the  first  Revival  under  the   gospel   continued  to 


58  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

roll  on  in  one  glorious  tide,  sweeping  over  the 
Roman  empire.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  Christian  history  of  that  period  is  not  the  his- 
tory of  a  town  or  district,  but  of  a  colossal  empire. 
The  heathen  world  was  then  in  a  state  of  intense 
mental  activity  on  every  subject,  —  political,  phi- 
losophical, and  religious.  Paganism  was  losing  its 
hold  on  the  world.  This  agitation  moved  from  the 
centre  gradually  to  the  circumference.  Moving 
thus  from  province  to  province,  it  was  continually 
furnishing  a  new  field  for  the  Christian  laborers. 
It  is,  then,  a  misapprehension  to  conceive  the 
Revival  as  moving  steadily  forward  in  one  town 
or  church  for  three  centuries.  It  was  like  our 
missionary  and  our  home-revivals  :  now  moving 
Oroomiah,  now  Ahmednuggur,  now  St.  Louis, 
now  Boston. 

Do  you  object  to  Revivals  because  they  decline  ? 
Then  object  to  the  labors  of  the  apostles ;  for  de- 
clensions and  apostasies  were  going  on  side  by  side 
with  the  Revivals  of  their  time.  Persecutors,  Here- 
siarchs,  Judaizers,  were  continually  combining  their 
forces  with  the  world  to  quench  the  fire  of  Chris- 
tian zeal.  While  Paul  was  yet  living,  the  Church 
of  Corinth  had  sunk  quite  low ;  that  of  Galatia  had 
been  bewitched ;  the  Hebrew  Christians  were  cru- 
cifying Christ  afresh ;  the  Seven  Churches  of  West- 
ern Asia  Minor  were  tending  fast  to  the  extinction 
of  the  light  in  their  candlesticks. 


THIRD    LECTURE. 

II.  —  Theological   Objections. 

There  is,  then,  another  class  of  opponents,  who 
on  reHgious,  or  rather  ecclesiastical,  grounds,  op- 
pose these  forms  of  religious  life,  regarding  them 
as  intrinsically  evil.     Their  opinion  is,  that,  — 

''Revivals  ai'e  inconsistent  with  the  very  Nature  and 
Essence  of  Christianity." 

In  the  "Bibliotheca  Sacra,"  vol.  xx.  pp.  87,  S'/'jy 
are  two  articles,  forming  part  of  the  series  contrib- 
uted by  representatives  of  the  several  branches  of 
the  Church,  to  exhibit  the  peculiar  features,  each 
of  his  own  branch.  You  will  there  perceive  that 
the  Episcopal  and  the  German  Reformed  churches 
are  represented  as  setting  themselves  against  Revi- 
vals, and  on  the -side  of  sacramental  piety. 

Dr.  Bushnell,  too,  has  taken  ground  against  Revi- 
vals, as  exhibiting  false  notions  of  Christianity. 
He  desires  a  piety  that  quietly  attends  the  services 
of  the  sanctuary,  but  expends  its  zeal  and  enthu- 
siasm within  the  domestic  circle ;  so  far  as  he 
shows,  to  the  utter  neglect  of  all  persons  outside  of 

59 


6o  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Christian  families  and  assemblies ;  excepting,  he 
v^ould  probably  say,  the  silent  power  of  example. 
Against  this  view  we  would  simply  oppose  the  en- 
tire movement  of  the  Lord's  apostles  and  their  suc- 
cessors. If  the  Church  had  always  acted  on  that 
view,  Europe  would  never  have  become  Christian, 
because  this  scheme  provides  for  the  salvation  of 
only  those  adults  already  in  Christian  congrega- 
tions, and  the  children  in  Christian  families.  If  he 
replies  that  his  view  admits  of  sending  clergymen 
forth  as  missionaries,  we  answer,  "  Even  then  you 
allow  no  one  to  go  forth  from  your  little  flock  of 
one  thousand  to  reach  the  ten  thousand  who  never 
come  to  hear  you  preach  at  home.  And  you  forbid 
the  convert  from  Paganism  to  aid  the  missionary 
in  converting  any  but  his  own  family."  How  totally 
contrary  this  is  to  the  truth  of  late  discovered  by 
our  missionary-boards,  that  the  apostolic  method  is 
still  the  right  method,  —  to  send  forth  a  few  mis- 
sionaries to  organize  churches,  expecting  these 
native  churches  to  become  the  instruments  of 
converting  the  millions  around  them  ! 

This  system  would  never  expel  the  heathenism 
that  still  largely  possesses  even  Christian  territory. 
But  we  must  believe  that  the  real  ground  of  these 
several  objections  is  generally,  not  universally  we 
are  sure,  opposition  to  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  late  venerable  Prof.  Porter  of  Andover 
Seminary,  in  his  Letters  on  Revivals,  gave  a  graphic 


THEOLOGICAL   OBJECTIONS.  6l 

description  of  the  several  classes  of  clergymen 
who  set  themselves  in  opposition  to  Revivals.  I 
quote  him :  — 

"  A was  one  of  those  good  men  who  are  under  the  domin- 
ion of  a  sluggish  temperament.  To  travel  from  one  side  of  his 
parish  to  another  cost  him  as  much  self-denial  as  it  cost  Caesar  to 
cross  the  Alps,  and  subdue  a  kingdom. 

"  B was  a  man  of  literary  taste,  an  idolater  of  books.     He 

laid  down  his  favorite  authors  with  reluctance,  to  attend  a  prayer- 
meeting.  He  was  so  fond  of  reading,  especially  works  of  genius 
and  popular  literature,  that  the  spirituality  of  his  heart  was  grad- 
ually impaired. 

"  C was  fond  of  social  avocations,  giving  the  energy  of  his 

being  to  the  lighter  forms  of  social  intercourse. 

•'  D overloaded  himself  with  secular  cares. 

"These  were  a  few  who  preached  the  sovereignty  of  God  in 
such  a  way  as  to  provide  a  refuge  for  sloth  in  Christians  and  min- 
isters." 

Now,  against  all  these  forms  of  opposition,  we 
set  the  fact  that  Revivals  have  ever  been  held 
in  high  esteem  as  the  rich  displays  of  redeeming 
grace,  by  men  and  women  of  the  most  eminent 
godliness,  in  every  rank  of  life ;  persons,  too,  the 
most  free  from  delight  in  nervous  excitement, 
superficial  piety,  or  any  needless  demonstration  of 
sensibility  in  connection  with  any  subject.  Be- 
sides this  fact,  the  evidence  of  which  can  be  pre- 
sented to  any  required  extent,  we  have  other 
sources  of  reply  to  all  objections.  We  have  showed 
this  to  have  been,  from  the  beginning,  the  scrip- 
tural view  of  the  kingdom  of  God  and  its  advance ; 
and  we  are  strengthened  in  our  conviction  by  the 


62      .  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

testimony,  which  v^^e  could  adduce  to  any  length, 
of  the  most  eminent  men  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 

Take,  for  example,  "  The  Testimony  and  Advice 
of  an  Assembly  of  Pastors  of  Churches  in  New 
England,  in  a  Meeting  in  Boston,  July  7,  1743, 
occasioned  by  the  late  Happy  Revival  of  Religion 
in  many  Parts  of  the  Land."  This  document, 
entering  at  great  length  into  the  subject,  is  signed, 
by  such  names  as  Joseph  Sewall,  Thomas  Prince, 
Benjamin  Colman,  Joshua  Gee ;  one  hundred  and 
thirteen  signing  the  document,  or,  if  absent,  agree- 
ing with  its  testimony.* 

To  all  these  objections  we  now  present  a  suc- 
cinct view  of 

The  Value  of  Revivals. 

The  very  title  has  been  happily,  nay,  divinely 
selected.  "O  Lord,  revive  thy  work,"  is  a  petition 
now  two  thousand  years  on  record.  What  a  beauti- 
ful term  it  is!  —  symbol  of  hope,  of  joyous  expe- 
rience, of  beauty  displacing  deformity,  the  process 
of  decay  suspended,  the  marks  of  death  obliterated, 
the  tints  and  forms  of  life  returning.  The  far- 
mer delights  in  a  revival ;  for  he  has  been  watching 
through  long  scorching  days  and  feverish  nights 
for  the  vision  of  a  single  cloud,  though  it  should  be 
no  bigger  than  a  man's  hand,  to  cover  those  brassy 
heavens,    and    cool    the    parched,    gaping,   dusty, 

*  Great  Awakening,  p.  287. 


THEOLOGICAL    OBJECTIONS.  63 

earth  ;  to  put  vigor  in  that  dead  atmosphere,  and 
save  those  withering  plants,  and  reheve  those  pant- 
ing, thirsting  herds  and  flocks. 

Yes,  it  was  a  Revival  that  inspired  the  Hundred 
and  Fourth  Psalm :  water  was,  in  part,  its  theme. 
Sympathizing  with  all  God's  creatures,  especially 
the  beautiful  vegetable  kingdom  and  the  sensitive 
animal  races,  the  writer  had  profoundly  appreciated 
the  worth  of  water.  He  had  waited  for  its  advent, 
as  Ahab  and  Elijah  waited  for  it  in  a  drought  of 
three  years  and  a  half.  And  oh !  when  it  came, 
how  that  sympathizing,  pious  heart  shared  the  joy 
of  reviving  Nature  around  him !  He  watched  the 
gathering  vapors  as  they  *'  go  up  by  the  mountains  " 
in  mist,  and  then  ''  down  by  the  valleys  "  in  show- 
ers, so  gentle,  so  kindly,  and  refreshing. 

And  it  was  the  more  delightful  to  him  that  it  was 
his  heavenly  Father  who  had  sent  down  the  reviv- 
ing showers  from  his  floating  cisterns  in  the  skies. 
"  He  sendeth  the  springs  into  the  valleys,  which  run 
among  the  hills,"  joyous  angels  doing  his  errands  of 
mercy  to  man  and  beast.  '*  They  give  drink  to 
every  beast  of  the  field  :  the  wild  asses  quench 
their  thirst.  By  them  shall  the  fowls  of  the  heaven 
have  their  habitation,  which  sing  among  the 
branches.  He  watereth  the  hills  from  his  cham- 
bers ;  the  earth  is  satisfied  with  the  fruit  of  thy 
works.  He  causeth  the  grass  to  grow  for  the 
cattle,  and  herb  for  the  service  of  man ;  that  he 
may  bring  forth  food  out  of  the  earth.     The  trees 


64  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

of  the  Lord  are  full  of  sap  ;  the  cedars  of  Lebanon, 
which  he  hath  planted,  where  the  birds  make  their 
nests." 

Surely  every  lover  of  nature  —  of  man  or  bird  or 
beast  or  flower — must  delight  in  a  revival,  whether 
it  be  of  nature,  or  commerce,  or  letters,  or  art,  or 
bodily  health,  or  decayed  affections,  or  a  good  spirit 
of  any  kind.  How  much  should  every  child  of  God 
delight  in  a  Revival  of  religion  ! 

And  he  would  be  a  strange  person  who  should 
object  to  Revivals  on  any  ground  whatever,  if  it  had 
not  been  so  common  as  to  remove  its  singularity. 
In  any  department  of  existence  it  would  be  a  strange 
objection  to  make  to  the  revival,  the  objection  that 
really  relates  to  the  necessity  for  a  revival,  to  blame 
God  or  man  for  an  evil  which  they  were  removing. 
You  may  say  you  disapprove  of  spasmodic  and 
periodical  revivings:  then  you  must  disapprove  of 
every  returning  spring.  There  always  have  been, 
and  there  will  continue  to  be,  winters,  however  un- 
comfortable, in  which  many  men  perish  by  frost,  — 
even  whole  armies.  There  may  be  great  objections 
to  thunder-storms ;  but  they  must  come,  and  prepare 
the  way  of  autumn's  golden  fruits.  There  may  be 
a  morbid  love  of  peace,  that  shall  incline  to  pur- 
chasing it  too  dearly.  The  ploughshare  may  be 
needed  to  strike  into  the  solid,  compact  subsoil, 
and  prepare  the  way  for  a  finer  species  of  grain  and 
better  crops. 

There  are  eyes  enabled  of  God  to  see  the  bright 


THEOLOGICAL    OBJECTIONS.  65 

side  of  even  a  thunder-cloud.  Indeed,  I  know  not 
how  the  injunctions,  ''Rejoice  always,"  and  "Be 
careful  for  nothing,"  are  to  be  obeyed,  if  not  by  a  full 
submission  of  our  preferences  to  God's  positive  and 
permissive  decrees,  a  perfect  confidence  that  he  is 
guiding  the  forces  of  the  universe  in  supreme  wis- 
dom and  goodness.  No  person  living  can  say  that 
the  world  is  managed  as  he  would  prefer ;  that  all 
his  wishes  are  gratified  by  the  course  of  events. 
The  only  way  of  rejoicing  constantly,  and  living  in 
the  sunshine,  is  to  rejoice,  not  merely  in  events 
even  the  most  agreeable,  not  to  fret  nor  complain, 
but  to  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  to  sing  with  the  old 
prophet,  ''  Although  the  fig-tree  shall  not  blossom, 
.  .  .  and  there  shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls,  yet  I 
will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my 
salvation."* 

Just  recall,  now,  some  of  the  obvious  effects  of 
Revivals.  Begin  with  that  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
of  which  Milton  says,  "  When  I  recall  to  mind  at 
last,  after  so  many  dark  ages,  wherein  the  huge,  over- 
shadowing train  of  error  had  almost  swept  all  the 
stars  out  of  the  firmament  of  the  Church,  how  the 
bright  and  blissful  Reformation  (by  divine  power) 
struck  through  the  black  and  settled  night  of  igno- 
rance and  of  anti-Christian  tyranny,  methinks  a 
sovereign  and  reviving  joy  must  needs  rush  into 
the  bosom  of  him  that  reads  or  hears,  and  the  sweet 
dawn  of  the  returning  gospel  imbathe  his  soul  with 

*  Hab.  iii.  17,  18. 


-v 


66  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

the  fragrancy  of  heaven.  Then  was  the  sacred 
Bible  sought  out  of  the  dusty  corners  v^here  pro- 
fane falsehood  and  neglect  had  thrown  it,  the  schools 
opened,  divine  and  human  learning  raked  out  of 
the  embers  of  forgotten  tongues ;  the  princes  and 
cities  pressing  apace  to  the  new-erected  banner  of 
salvation  ;  the  martyrs,  with  the  unresistible  might 
of  weakness,  shaking  the  powers  of  darkness,  and 
scorning  the  fiery  rage  of  the  old  red  dragon."  * 

That  was  indeed  a  Revival,  as  full  of  imperfec- 
tions, as  much  ridiculed,  slandered,  resisted,  as  any 
of  the  most  purely  religious  that  ever  provoked  the 
enmity  of  Satan.  But  what  a  blessing  it  has  been 
to  the  world ! 

Inquire  of  those  whose  knowledge  qualifies  them 
to  testify,  and  you  may  see  that  Revivals  have 
proved  an  inestimable  blessing  to  pastors  of 
churches.  The  re-action  on  their  minds  and 
hearts,  their  lives  and  ministry,  has  been  very 
marked ;  quickening  the  mind  into  new  channels 
of  thought,  giving  new  and  higher  impulses  to  the 
heart,  breaking  up  effectually  a  state  of  mental 
stagnation  and  a  monotonous  routine. 

Lyman  Beecher  accomplished  a  great  work  in 
Boston.  Yet  we  may  question  whether  he  could 
have  done  that  work,  had  he  not  been  brought 
through  the  influence  of  that  great  Revival  in  Litch- 
field to  a  very  high  plane  of  thought  and  feeling. 

A  Revival  teaches  homiletics,  as  it   forms   the 

*  Reformation  in  England,  p.  2. 


THEOLOGICAL   OBJECTIONS.  67 

habit  of  earnest,  direct,  pungent  preaching.  Our 
camps  were  great  theological  schools ;  for,  in  the 
midst  of  those  glorious  displays  of  divine  grace 
there  witnessed,  preachers  learned  many  new  and 
important  lessons  about  bringing  theology  down 
from  the  head  to  the  heart  of  both  preacher  and 
hearer. 

A  pastor  thus  testifies :  "  The  most  glorious 
views  I  ever  had  of  God  came  to  me  while  labor- 
ing for  my  fellow-men.  The  most  glorious  views  I 
ever  had  of  man's  interior  life  and  of  essential  di- 
vine truths  were  ministered  to  me  while  I  was 
working  for  the  salvation  of  others.  And  I  think 
that  Revivals  of  religion,  in  which  ministers'  hearts 
are  on  fire  with  zeal  to  save  the  souls  of  men,  are 
the  best  schools  for  overcoming  any  doubts  and 
speculations  which  those  minds  may  have." 

The  churches  have  derived  lasting  blessings 
from  them ;  some,  indeed,  having  been  saved  from 
utter  extinction  by  them ;  and  many  a  person 
reaching  in  them  a  higher  plane  of  spiritual  life, 
never  again  abandoned. 

Souls  are  saved,  through  their  instrumentality, 
which,  without  them,  would  have  been  lost.  And 
this,  so  bold  a  statement,  is  justified  by  the  Lord's 
declaration  concerning  Tyre  and  Sidon,  —  that,  if 
the  miracles  and  works  witnessed  by  Chorazin  had 
been  witnessed  in  them,  they  would  have  repented.* 

Do  any  inquire  why  men  are  saved  peculiarly  at 

*■  Matt,  xi.  21. 


68  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

such  seasons  ?  It  may  be  said,  in  reply,  special  in- 
fluences of  the  Holy  Spirit  make  a  Revival :  reli- 
gious truth  is  then  aided  by  very  peculiar  accom- 
paniments. The  whole  current  of  thought  and 
feeling  in  a  community  runs  powerfully  in  one 
channel.  It  is  easy  to  fix  the  thoughts  on 
spiritual  and  eternal  realities.  The  example  of  the 
Church,  the  preaching,  the  praying,  the  testimony 
and  exhortation  of  converts,  the  manifestations  of 
God's  presence  and  power  in  conversions,  —  all 
make  conversion  easier,  according  to  the  laws  of 
the  mind  and  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  of  grace. 
Prayer,  then,  assumes  a  peculiar  tone ;  and  earnest, 
expecting  prayer  is  the  mightiest  instrument  man 
can  wield. 

Instances  may  be  adduced,  in  which  Revivals 
have  entirely  renovated  the  moral  character  of 
towns  and  districts. 

I  might  produce  an  instance  from  my  pastoral 
experience  in  the  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Albany.  It  was  a  laborious,  earnest  body  of  men 
and  women.  Every  alley  and  attic  of  the  ward 
was  visited  by  them.  The  meeting  for  inquirers 
was  constantly  held  for  years.  The  edifice  had  not 
long  been  erected,  before  there  was  an  increasing 
demand  for  paint  on  buildings  around  it.  Very 
soon  the  chief  of  police  testified,  that  that  ward, 
which  had  given  the  authorities  more  trouble  than 
any  other,  had  become  the  most  orderly  in  the  city. 
Mr.  Delavan  testified  in  a  temperance  meeting  in 


THEOLOGICAL    OBJECTIONS.  69 

the  church,  that  he  wanted  no  other  agent  for  his 
property  in  that  part  of  the  city,  it  had  grown  so 
much  in  value  since  the  church  commenced  its 
labors  there. 

The  testimony  of  that  High  Church  Anglican, 
Southey,  to  the  effects  of  the  Methodist  movement, 
which,  for  half  a  century,  was  a  perpetual  Revival, 
is  very  strong  on  certain  points.  He  acknowledges 
that  "  there  never  was  less  religious  feeling,  either 
within  the  Established  Church,  or  without,  than 
when  Wesley  blew  his  trumpet,  and  awakened 
those  who  slept."  And  Priestley  has  conceded,  that 
while  the  Establishment,  rich,  learned,  and  power- 
ful, was  suffering  the  poor  to  sink  to  the  depths 
of  moral  degradation,  these  Revivalists  saved  a 
large  portion  of  them,  and  turned  their  thoughts 
and  aspirations  toward  a  higher  form  of  life.  He 
commends  the  Methodists  as  not  only  ''  Christian- 
izing, but  also  civilizing,  that  part  of  the  community, 
which,"  he  informs  this  powerful  aristocracy,  ''is 
below  the  notice  of  your  dignified  clergy." 

The  process  of  demoralization  was,  by  this  great 
Revival,  checked  in  the  rural  districts,  where  grow- 
ing manufactories  had  greatly  corrupted  the  village 
and  farming  population, 

Howitt  says,   "They  rescued  them  from  brutali- 
ty of  mind  and  manners,  and   gave  them  a  more 
refined  association  on  earth,  and  a  warm  hope  of  a 
still  better  existence  hereafter." 
*We   may,  then,  close  this  defence   of  Revivals 


70  LECTURES    OX    REVIVALS. 

against  the  popular  and  ecclesiastical  objections, 
by  presenting  this  one  touch  of  the  sacred  pencil, 
which  brings  to  our  view  a  scene  in  one  of  the 
earliest  Christian  Revivals :  ''  And  there  was  great 
joy  in  that  city."*  Not  that  every  citizen  of  Sama- 
ria was  happv ;  not  that  there  were  no  occasions 
for  anxietv  in  the  very  Revival  itself ;  not  that 
some  of  the  conversions  were  not  spurious :  the 
expression  reveals  these  new  phenomena  as  then 
existing.  There  was  joy  in  the  heart  of  the  eter- 
nal Father,  faintly  set  forth  to  our  view  in  the 
joy  of  the  father  of  the  prodigal  son.  There  were, 
indeed,  elder  brothers  of  the  Pharisaic  order,  to 
cavil  and  criticise,  to  murmur  and  look  wise ;  but 
the  old  mansion  was  echoing  from  every  chamber 
the  delight  of  that  paternal  heart. 

There  was  joy  in  one  city  on  earth;  for  the 
heart  of  the  Eternal  was  moved  more  at  the  sight 
of  that  one  returning  prodigal  than  at  the  rising 
glories  of  a  new-born  world  springing  into  exist- 
ence, and  falling  into  rank  amid  the  rolling  orbs  of 
heaven. 

There  was  joy  in  the  town  of  Samaria ;  for  her 
Father  had  recovered  some  of  his  lost  ones,  re- 
ceived his  dead  to  life  again ;  and  the  waves  of 
divine  joy  had  rolled  over  the  battlements  of  heav- 
en, and  reached  and  moved  every  susceptible  heart 
in  the  place. 

There   was   joy   in   that   city;   for   hearts  were 

*  Acts  Ndii.  8. 


PHILOSOPHICAL    OBJECTIONS.  7 1 

there  which  had  borne  heavy  burdens  of  solicitude 
for  the  perishing ;  and  now  their  prayers  were 
answered. 

There  was  joy  in  the  converted  heart.  Joy,  do 
you  reply,  to  be  quenched  in  the  sorrows  of  earth, 
the  deeper  sorrows  and  the  perplexities  of  earthly 
care,  the  anguish  of  temptation,  the  deeper  an- 
guish of  conscious  declension  ?  Grant  it.  But 
shall  there  be  no  joy  —  no  genuine,  legitimate 
joy  —  in  the  house  when  a  man-child  is  born  there, 
because  that  child  is  born  to  the  common  inherit- 
ance of  grief  ? 

Nay,  that  wisdom  is  morbid.  You  must  remem- 
ber that  that  earthly  birth  is  to  the  inheritance  of 
a  glory,  and  a  privilege  in  many  respects,  super- 
angelic  ;  and  you  should  remember  that  the  new 
heavenly  birth  is  to  a  life  of  discipline  preparatory 
to  the  entrance  into  an  inheritance  incorruptible, 
undefiled,  and  unending. 


We  come  now  to  notice,  — 

III.  —  The  Philosophical  Objections. 

Some  of  you  may  hereafter  find  occasion  to  ex- 
amine the  objections  to  Revivals  made  by  specula- 
tive and  especially  scientific  minds.  Nay,  it  is  not 
infrequently  that  the  student  of  theology  passes 
through  even   terrific  struggles  in  grappling  with 


72  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

doubts  which  involuntarily  but  powerfully  rush  into 
his  mind,  and  confront  his  faith. 

The  element  of  the  supernatural  in  Christianity 
is  the  rock  of  offence  to  rationalism.  The  fact  of 
the  supernatural  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Re- 
generation, in  Sanctification,  and  in  Revivals,  en- 
counters the  opposition  of  the  rationalistic  spirit 
in  several  forms,  but  really  under  the  same  princi- 
ple in  each.  The  essence  of  this  theory  is,  the 
universe  is  actuated  and  controlled,  not  by  will,  but 
by  material  forces. 

We  may  consider  it  as  one  essentially,  but  ap- 
plied to  our  subject  in  three  several  phases,  —  the 
inviolability  of  the  order  of  Nature  ;  the  suprema- 
cy of  the  laws  of  Nature ;  the  supremacy  of  ma- 
terial, involuntary,  or  mechanical  forces  in  Nature. 

We  first  take  up  this  theory,  to  measure  its 
force,  and  expose  its  feebleness. 

I.  "  The  Order  of  Nature  is  inviolable  ;''  so  that 
^*for  science  there  are  no  miracles."  Let  us,  then, 
understand  each  other.  By  science,  we  here 
understand  to  be  intended,  not  the  laws  of  thought, 
not  the  testimony  of  consciousness,  but  merely 
physical  facts  traced  to  the'ir  physical  causes ;  the 
observation  of  the  order  of  Nature,  and  the  expres- 
sion of  that  order  in  zuoi'ds.  If  we  agree  there,  then 
it  follows,  that  mere  science  can  never  make  theo- 
ries for  facts  not  recognized  by  her.  When  she 
talks  of  the  order  of  the  universe,  she  really  means 
of  so  much  of  the  universe  as  she  has  observed. 


PHILOSOPHICAL    OBJECTIONS.  73 

She  has  a  right  to  deny  only  what  would  contradict 
the  facts  of  her  observation.  It  must  be  only  men 
of  physical  science,  inflated  by  their  limited  dis- 
coveries of  God's  modes  of  working  in  one  sphere, 
who  declare  that  he  cannot  work  otherwise  in 
other  spheres. 

One  has  very  properly  made  this  concession  to 
science :  ''  Not  only  has  it  made  man  more  truly 
than  ever  the  lord  of  creation  by  the  thousand 
instrumentalities  which  it  provides  for  the  progres- 
sive subjugation  of  Nature,  it  also  charms  the 
spirit  in  its  researches  after  wisdom  and  knowl- 
edge, by  giving  it  such  a  view  of  the  structure  of 
the  universe  in  its  totality  as  immeasurably  sur- 
passes in  vividness  and  completeness  all  the  repre- 
sentations of  the  past."  Then  most  justly  does 
this  writer.  Prof.  Beyschlag,  thus  expose  the  weak- 
ness, the  vanity,  the  folly,  of  a  large  class  of  scien- 
tific men  :  ''  Into:^icated  with  the  view,  the  child  of 
our  age  stands  before  Nature  as  the  great  Cosmos, 
a  most  perfect  system  of  order  and  harmony,  rest- 
ing on  immanent  laws,  and  interpenetrative  neces- 
sities ;  and  so  firmly  bound  together,  so  exquisitely 
adapted  in  all  its  parts,  does  the  beauteous  struc- 
ture appear  to  him,  that  it  seems  as  though  the 
power  of  no  spirit,  not  even  the  hand  of  God, 
could  disturb  any  one  of  its  links  without  detri- 
ment and  derangement  to  the  whole." 

Confining  the  word  ''science,"  then,  to  the  mate- 
rial world  and  the  forces  that  govern  it,  we  reply  to 


74  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

the  dogma  that  the  order  of  Nature  is  "inviolable, 
thus  the  principle  is  true,  but  only  within  certain 
limits.  It  w^ould  be  to  us  an  absolute  and  uni- 
versal truth,  but  for  one  or  tv^o  facts.  The  first  is, 
that  the  conclusions  of  science  are  never  to  the 
human  mind  the  basis  of  absolute  certainty.  They 
never  can,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  come  nearer 
to  it  than  a  high  degree  of  probability.  They  suffice 
in  enabling  mankind  to  make  increasing  use  of  ma- 
terial forces ;  but,  philosophically  considered,  they 
are  only  the  best  explanations  of  phenomena  that 
we  can  reach.  No  truly  scientific  man  claims  for 
the  most  elementary  laws  any  thing  more  than  that 
they  are  approximative,  not  exhaustively  and  ulti- 
mately true.  Then,  again,  if  science  were  not 
confined  to  the  facts  it  observes,  but  were  compe- 
tent to  deny  other  facts,  of  the  reality  or  non- 
reality  of  which  it  is  utterly  incompetent  to  judge, 
then,  possibly,  the  position  might  be  true  as 
objectors  understand  and  apply  it. 

But,  as  it  is,  the  judgment  of  science  in  this  mat- 
ter is  extra-judicial:  the  court  undertakes  the  decis- 
ion of  a  case  not  within  its  jurisdiction.  What 
would  be  thought  of  a  mathematician  affirming,  that 
as  mathematics  ignores  sentiment,  and  knows  noth- 
ing about  honor  or  benevolence,  therefore  honor 
and  benevolence  are  chimeras  ? 

The  story  of  the  Scottish  mathematician  is  here 
in  place.  His  friend  loaned  him  "  Paradise  Lost." 
When  he  had  read  it,  the  lender  inquired  how  ht 


PHILOSOPHICAL   OBJECTIONS.  75 

liked  it  His  reply  was,"  Bah  !  there  is  not  a  dem- 
onstration in  it ! " 

Science  may  take  negative  positions  when  any 
one  denies  the  contrary  of  its  own  established 
truths  ;  but,  when  it  meets  any  other  positions,  it 
has  nothing  to  do  with  negations.  Science  is  an 
acquaintance  with  a  certain  order  of  things,  their 
antecedents  and  consequents,  or  causes  and  effects. 
But  does  it  include  a  denial  that  there  are  any  other 
ranks  of  existence,  any  other  orders  of  cause  and 
effect .?  Surely  not.  That  is  not  science,  but  pre- 
sumption and  assumption ;  for  science  is  founded 
on  the  observation  of  realities,  not  on  ignorance  or 
non-knowledge.  Because  animals,  minerals,  fluids, 
vegetables,  are  controlled  by  certain  forces  in  pre- 
scribed and  inviolable  order,  does  that  furnish  evi- 
dence of  this  negative  proposition,  —  there  is  no 
other  kind  of  force,  no  other  kind  of  order,  no  such 
thing  as  a  force  that  may  effect  the  recovery  of 
mind  from  its  disorders  ? 

Here  we  must  firmly  take  our  ground,  and  stop 
this  matter  at  the  very  threshold.  We  must  affirm 
that  natural  science  moves  in  the  sphere  of  the  sen- 
sible for  obtaining  the  facts  of  a  certain  class,  and 
not  of  any  other ;  that  she  has  no  right  to  invade 
any  other  department  of  being,  or  to  affirm  any 
thing  about  what  may  or  may  not  be^  independently 
of  those  facts  which  are  addressed  to  the  senses,  or 
to  the  consciousness  of  all  mankind.  Then  she 
must  be  sure  that  all  does  not  mean  merely  a  few. 


76  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

It  may  be  conjecture  to  deny  what  is  not  seen,  or 
cannot  be  inferred  from  the  visible  and  tangible ; 
but  that  is  not  a  sound  philosophy  which  brings  the 
whole  universe  before  the  human  mind  to  be  judged 
by  the  theories  of  material  science.  There  may  be 
facts,  beings,  forces,  lying  entirely  outside  of  the 
sphere  of  sensuous  observation. 

Let  us,  then,  beware  that  we,  as  defenders  of  the 
Christian  system,  do  not  confound  the  immodesty 
and  arrogance  of  some  scientific  men  with  science 
itself.  Indeed,  no  class  of  men  should  more  cor- 
dially encourage  all  truly  scientific  investigations 
than  those  in  our  profession ;  but  we  should  be 
able  to  detect  the  assumptions  and  the  sophisms 
with  which  scepticism,  in  the  garb  of  science,  and 
with  her  phraseology,  opposes  the  kingdom  of 
Christ. 

Demand  of  these  men  the  meaning  of  their  cant 
phrase,  '*  The  order  of  Nature  is  inviolable."  It 
assumes,  without  proof,  the  very  point  in  question, 
—  whether  there  is  not  a  sphere  of  existence  from 
which  the  laws  of  matter  are  excluded,  and  into 
which  they  have  no  right  to  bring  those  laws. 

We  may  safely  challenge  the  scientific  sceptic  to 
relax  his  bigotry,  and  enlarge  the  circumference  of 
his  observations,  and  look  at  a  class  of  phenomena 
as  real  as  gravitation,  facts  of  human  experience 
as  real  as  the  experience  of  sensation,  —  the  facts 
embraced  in  the  history  of  Revivals  of  religion; 
and,  meeting  them,  to  deal  with  them  fairly,  scien- 


PHILOSOPHICAL   OBJECTIONS.  77 

tifically,  trace  them  as  effects  to  causes,  causes 
wholly  adequate.  They  then  may  discover  that 
thoroughly  authenticated  facts  can  be  produced,  so 
numerous,  so  extended  through  time  and  space,  so 
uniform  in  their  essential  features,  and  so  varied  in 
that  which  is  incidental,  as  to  forbid  their  classifi- 
cation with  anomalous  or  exceptional  events.  They 
are  such  as  no  finite  cause  is  adequate  to  produce, 
superhuman  in  purity,  supernatural  in  origin. 

These  facts  are  real  events  in  human  experience 
and  history.  They  are  confined  to  no  country,  to 
no  one  of  the  eighteen  Christian  centuries.  Be- 
ginning at  Jerusalem,  they  have  been  witnessed  in 
every  land  where  civilized  man  has  lived,  —  from  the 
throne  to  the  cottage,  from  the  ermined  judge  to 
the  rudest  ploughboy.  Statesmen,  warriors,  princes, 
poets,  orators,  merchants,  mechanics,  artists,  freed- 
men,  slaves,  persons  of  all  ages,  of  either  sex, 
millions  on  millions,  could  rise  in  open  court,  and 
swear  to  that  they  have  seen  and  felt  in  them- 
selves, and  witnessed  in  others,  —  an  experience 
which  can  be  brought  within  no  part  of  the  order 
of  Nature. 

These  facts,  to  which  I  refer,  are  changes  in 
character,  radical,  beautiful,  beneficial,  permanent, 
often  sudden  ;  changes  in  communities,  affecting 
every  department  of  life,  quickening  industry, 
producing  thrift,  prudence,  economy,  benevolence, 
gentleness,  soberness,  purity;  raising  the  value 
of  property  in  towns  and  neighborhoods ;  strength- 


78  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

ening  the  hands  of  the  magistrates ;  turning  a 
domestic  pandemonium  into  a  paradise ;  elevating 
the  degraded ;  reclaiming  the  debauched ;  refin- 
ing the  manners  ;  sweetening  the  intercourse  of 
society. 

I  say,  we  are  prepared  to  produce  facts  of  this 
class  from  such  an  extent  of  space,  and  through 
eighteen  centuries,  in  such  overwhelming  abun- 
dance ;  to  show  such  an  amount  of  elevated  litera- 
ture, of  ecclesiastical  history,  so  many  edifices  and 
monuments  erected  from  age  to  age  as  the  direct 
fruit  of  these  changes,  that  the  scientific  man  who 
refuses  to  admit  them  as  facts,  and  to  account  for 
them  by  causes  utterly  out  of  the  range  of  physical 
science,  and  of  which  it  knows  nothing,  must  admit 
his  science  to  be  too  narrow  to  embrace  all  the  facts 
of  the  universe,  and  himself  entirely  out  of  place  in 
opposing  the  Christian  theory  as  either  unscien- 
tific, or  opposed  to  true  science. 

You  will  do  well  to  make  for  yourselves  collec- 
tions of  cases  which  may  challenge  denial ;  for  they 
can  be  found  by  millions  and  tens  of  millions,  — 
cases  of  individual  transformation,  like  those  of 
Saul  of  Tarsus,  Augustine,  Bunyan,  Newton,  Gar- 
diner, and  thousands  of  drunkards,  abandoned 
women,  blasphemers,  men  of  violent  passions, 
utterly  transformed,  and  for  life,  some  of  them  in 
a  day. 

Then  to  these  you  may  add  the  history  of  Revi- 
vals in  villages  and  rural  districts,  in  large  towns 


PHILOSOPHICAL    OBJECTIONS.  79 

and  cities.  Take  the  colliers  of  Kingwood,  the 
navvies  whom  Miss  Marsh  instructed,  the  prisoners 
whom  Elizabeth  Fry  guided  to  the  Saviour,  the 
Sandwich-Islanders,  entirely  transformed  and  ele- 
vated in  one  generation.  Here,  I  repeat,  are  facts, 
events,  effects,  to  be  accounted  for,  but  not  by 
electricity,  or  diseased  action  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem ;  by  no  laws  of  Nature,  no  powers  known  to 
science,  no  "order  of  Nature." 

Another  and  equivalent  expression  of  scientific 
scepticism  is  this  :  — 

2.  "  The  Laws  of  Nature  mzist  be  held  sacred  by 
the  Author  of  Natiu^e!'  —  This  is  a  step  in  advance, 
however.  Now  we  have  an  Author  of  Nature  :  now 
we  are  permitted  to  have  a  God;  but  one  whose 
hands  are  tied,  whose  will  has  no  occupation ;  at 
least,  down  here.  His  only  function  is  to  respect 
the  laws  of  Nature.  If  his  children  cry  to  him  in 
distress,  he  refers  them  to  galvanism  and  gravita- 
tion. He  has  for  them  neither  ear  nor  heart,  nor 
hand  to  help  them. 

If  we  inquire  what  makes  the  "must"  in  this 
case,  .we  are  informed  that  every  valuable  interest 
of  human  life,  and  even  religion  itself,  requires  that 
Nature  move  in  regular  orbits,  at  fixed  times,  Avith- 
out  deviation,  in  order  that  man  may  place  the 
most  absolute  reliance  on  her  regularity. 

This  sounds  well ;  but  it  is  full  of  weakness,  and 
betrays  the  narrowness  of  the  soul  which  can  apply 
it  to  the  entire  life  of  the  human  race.     It  confuses 


8o  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

the  mind  by  an  unscientific  use  of  terms  ;  it  betrays 
an  arrogant  dogmatism  ;  and  it  is  as  cruel  as  it  is 
unphilosophical.  It  affirms  that  the  laws,  as  vi^ell 
as  the  order,  of  Nature,  must  be  inviolable ;  that  a 
God  who  would  break  them  would  prove  himself 
the  enemy  of  mankind.  Now,  the  sophism  lies  in 
this:  the  word  "law"  here  really  means  nothing 
like  law  ;  for  a  law  is  addressed  not  to  matter,  but  to 
mind.  As  Dr.  Beecher  once  said,  ''  The  Almighty 
did  not  give  the  ten  commandments  to  the  planets." 
Then,  again,  if  God  had  given  laws  to  matter,  he 
did  not  give  them  to  himself.  They  do  not  bind 
him,  if  they  bind  the  atoms  of  matter. 

Then,  again,  the  imagination  is  here  enlisted  to 
make  miracles  appear  horrible.  In  affirming  that 
the  progress  of  civilization  depends  upon  the  sta- 
bility of  Nature's  laws,  this  insinuation  is  made 
(and  it  alone  gives  any  force  to  the  statement  as  an 
argument  against  supernatural  intervention),  that 
if,  for  example,  Joshua  made  the  sun  really  or  ap- 
parently stand  still  once  in  six  thousand  years, 
then  no  calculation  of  eclipses,  no  nautical  tables, 
no  science  of  astronomy  or  navigation,  could  be 
reliable. 

I  now  refer  to  the  arrogance  of  this  assumption 
of  scientific  men.  They  assume  that  there  is  no 
higher  power  than  that  which  controls,  and  is  in- 
herent in,  matter  ;  that  Nature  is  superior  in  impor- 
tance and  power  to  mind  ;  that  the  moral  wants  of 
man  are  not  so  important  as  this  order  of  Nature. 


PHILOSOPHICAL   OBJECTIONS.  8 1 

All  this  is  assumption  :  it  is  not  proved.  Nay, 
they  have  no  right  to  assume  that  what  we  denom- 
inate ''the  supernatural"  is  not  a  higher  depart- 
ment of  Nature  itself,  not  to  be  controlled  by  the 
inferior  laws  of  matter,  nor  measured  and  weighed 
by  its  instruments. 

They  contradict  a  principle  written  on  the  whole 
of  this  magnificent  planet  inhabited  by  man,  and 
on  the  heavens  that  curtain  our  abode ;  the  prin- 
ciple that  matter  exists  for  mind  ;  and  not  mind  for 
matter. 

It  is  insulting  to  the  Creator  to  deny  him  the 
right  and  power  to  be  master  of  the  world  he  has 
created  and  sustained  ;  to  affirm  that  the  laws  with 
which  he  binds  brute  matter  bind  him. 

I  speak,  too,  of  the  inhumanity,  the  cruelty,  of 
this,  as  of  every  other  form  of  anti-Christian  scep- 
ticism, —  a  suggestion  which  may,  indeed,  provoke 
the  smile  of  the  sceptic  as  being  unscientific,  un- 
philosophical.  But  to  men  of  faith  it  is  of  supreme 
importance.  If  natural  laws  are  supreme,  if  God 
can  do  nothing  but  through  the  channels  of  gravi- 
tation, chemical  affinity,  and  the  electric  current, 
then,  of  course,  prayer  is  folly  ;  the  cry  of  human 
want,  the  aspiration  to  commune  with  our  Creator 
and  heavenly  Father,  is  altogether  vain  ;  then  the 
present  moral  disorders  of  the  race,  have  no  rem- 
edy. Rheumatism  and  fever  may  be  cured  ;  a 
broken  arm  may  be  set  without  violating  the*  laws 
of  Nature,  or  disturbing  the  harmony  of  the  plan- 


82  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

ets,  or  arresting  the  march  and  the  triumphs  of  sci- 
ence :  but  sin  has  no  remedy ;  a  broken  heart,  no 
divine  sympathy ;  a  nation  corrupted,  and  sinking 
toward  the  abyss,  must  not  pray,  but  despair ! 

This,  it  has  been  well  said,  is  "  the  new  heathen- 
ism, worse  than  the  old  Paganism,  immeasurably 
more  radical,  more  godless ;  for  while  that,  in  its 
simplicity,  confounded  the  Creator  with  the  crea- 
tion, it  was  not,  like  this,  a  conscious  denial  of  the 
Father  revealed  in  Christ.  The  grave  wherein 
this  new  heathenism  would  bury  miracles  ingulfs 
every  thing  which  would  give  to  human  existence 
its  ideal  character,  its  real  worth,  —  the  soul  as  the 
express  image  of  God,  faith  and  prayer,  the  holy 
person  of  the  Redeemer,  the  future  world,  the  liv- 
ing God.  He  who  would  save  these  precious  reali- 
ties must  purge  his  eyes  of  the  glamour  of 
naturalism,  and  begin  again  with  the  faith,  which  '  is 
the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence 
of  things  not  seen  ; '  with  faith,  therefore,  in  the 
supernatural,  in  miracles."  And  to  this  I  would 
add,  he  must  revive  his  faith  in  the  supernatural 
action  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  Revivals. 

Mr.  Froude,  the  English  historian,  is  very  bold  in 
dealing  with  these  gentlemen.  He  says,  *'The 
nobler  principles  are  not  provided  for  us  by  the 
inductive  philosophy.  I  once  asked  a  distinguished 
philosopher  what  he  thought  of  patriotism.  He 
said  he  thought  it  was  a  compound  of  vanity  and 
superstition,  a  bad  kind  of  prejudice,  which  will 


PHILOSOPHICAL   OBJECTIONS.  83 

die  out  with  the  growth  of  reason.  He  could  not 
narrow  himself  to  so  small  a  thing  as  his  coun- 
try. I  could  but  say  to  myself,  Thank  God  that  we 
are  not  yet  a  nation  of  philosophers  !  A  man  who 
takes  up  with  philosophy  like  that  may  write  fine 
books,  and  review  articles,  and  such  like ;  but  at 
the  bottom  he  is  a  poor  caitiff,  and  there  is  no  more 
to  be  said  about  him." 

But  I  would  follow  up  this  scepticism  still  fur- 
ther. In  maintaining  what  it  calls  the  inviolability 
of  Nature,  it  assumes,  as  a  foundation-principle  of 
its  whole  structure,  — 

3.  The  Supremacy  of  Material  Forces  in  Human 
Affairs.  —  We  believe,  on  the  most  abundant  evi- 
dence, partly  intuitional,  partly  from  experience, 
partly  from  observation  and  inference,  as  well  as 
from  Scripture,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  a  power  in 
human  life  and  human  history.  But  we  are  in- 
formed, "  There  is  no  independent  realm  of  spirit ; 
for  all  is  controlled  by  material  or  mechanical 
powers."  This,  I  affirm  again,  is  mere  assertion 
and  assumption.  Nor  do  I  stop  there,  but  bring 
against  it  these  facts  :  — 

(i.)  Every  rational  being  is  conscious  of  spon- 
taneity, and,  in  every  exercise  of  choice,  of  the 
possibility  of  having  chosen  the  contrary.  He  is 
further  conscious  of, 

(2.)  Being  responsible,  and  of  holding  other 
rational  beings  responsible,  as  he  holds  nothing 
responsible    which    has   not   a   free    will.      Every 


84  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

man  carries  in  his  own  being  a  tribunal,  and  a 
judge,  aad  a  law,  and  undergoes  a  trial  there  for 
violating  that  law ;  such  a  trial  as  he  never  subjects 
a  stone  or  a  horse  to  undergo.  A  leading  advo- 
cate of  Mr.  Buckle's  views  admitted  to  me  that 
this  mechanical  theory  destroys  the  idea  of  respon- 
sibility. 

(3.)  Man  is  conscious  of  virtue  and  vice,  which 
are  things  lying  wholly  out  of  the  range  of  objects 
controlled  by  material  forces. 

(4.)  Dying  believers  frequently  show,  that,  the 
more  thoroughly  the  body  approaches  the  control 
of  the  disorganizing  material  forces,  the  more  thor- 
oughly does  the  spirit  assert  its  independence  of 
their  power,  defy  their  attacks,  and  deny  their 
supremacy. 

(5.)  Every  time  you  contrast  the  two  actions  of 
lifting  a  stone,  and  persuading  a  man,  you  demon- 
strate the  falsity  of  this  theory ;  you  show  that  a 
material  body  is  controlled  by  a  will  extraneous  to 
itself,  but  will  is  controlled  by  motives  ;  that  mate- 
rial force  is  the  inferior,  and  spiritual  force  the 
superior.  Nay,  why  do  sceptics  not  handle  you  as 
they  would  a  bar  of  iron  or  a  block  of  marble  ?  why 
do  they  not  apply  the  fire  and  the  hammer  to  you  ? 
Their  very  effort  to  persuade  you  to  adopt  their 
theories  is  an  act  of  homage  to  the  portion  of  your 
being  lying  out  of  the  region  of  mechanical  forces. 
Persuasion  is  the  recognition  of  the  power  of  spirit 
over  spirit,  dealing  as  it  does,  not  with  gravitation, 


PHILOSOPHICAL   OBJECTIONS.  85 

vis,  inertia,  and  cohesion,  but  with  sensibility,  con- 
science, judgment,  and  will. 

Messrs.  Comte,  Buckle,  and  Draper  write  books 
to  convince  the  world  that  heat  and  moisture  govern 
opinions,  and  form  character :  why,  then,  do  they  not 
employ  steam-engines  and  vapor-baths,  instead  of 
argument  ?  They  employ  books,  indeed  ;  but  they 
place  no  dependence  on  the  weight  of  the  book,  or 
its  other  material  properties,  for  the  desired  result. 
Their  very  efforts  stultify  their  theories.  After 
all,  they  believe  the  world  is  moulded  by  ideas,  not 
natural  forces. 

(6.)  Every  mechanic  art  displays  a  spiritual  power 
counteracting  physical  power. 

(7.)  Will-power,  if  not  the  only  real  force  in  the 
universe,  certainly  is  the  predominant  power  in  this 
section  of  it.  When  your  hand  lies  upon  the  table, 
it  is  controlled  by  gravitation.  When  you  raise  it, 
you  conquer  the  earth's  attraction.  How  ?  By 
will-power.  What  right  has  Mr.  Buckle  to  assert 
that  a  mechanical  power  lay  back  of  the  will,  or 
that  the  will-power  is  mechanical }  If  it  is  so,  who 
informed  him  of  it  .'* 

Nay,  we  affirm  that  (8)  the  very  order  of  the  uni- 
verse is,  to  every  one  not  perverted  to  the  abandon- 
ment of  common-sense  for  the  sake  of  a  theory,  evi- 
dence of  will-power,  just  as  much  as  the  existence  of 
a  house  manifests  the  will  of  a  designer  and  builder. 
Everywhere  we  behold  mechanical  forces,  even  in 
their  blindest,  wildest  operations,   subserving  the 


86  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

purposes  of  a  designing  intellect  and  purposing 
will. 

Boldly,  then,  champions  of  the  blood-stained  ban- 
ner, stand  in  the  face  of  "science,  falsely  so  called,'* 
and  affirm  that  science  and  philosophy  can  furnish 
no  evidence  to  contradict  that  sublime  theory  of 
the  Bible,  "  Of  Him,  and  through  Him,  and  to  Him, 
are  all  things  ;  He  is  before  all  things  ;  and  by  Him 
all  things  consist ;  God  worketh  all  things  after  the 
counsel  of  His  own  will."  Maintain  that  the  con- 
structive and  the  reconstructive  operations  of  the 
divine  will  move  in  two  totally  different  spheres ; 
that  a  supernatural  power  is  acting  equally  in  ex- 
tent, and  in  entire  harmony  with  the  natural  forces ; 
that  human  apostasy  has  given  occasion  to  a  new 
and  peculiar  form  of  action,  attributed  in  the  Scrip- 
tures to  the  grace  of  God,  which  is  a  peculiar  form 
of  his  love,  and  especially  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  one 
person  of  the  adorable  Godhead. 

To  you,  students  of  the  works  and  word  of  God, 
it  is  of  great  importance  to  determine  how  far  it  is 
lawful  to  regulate  religious  belief  by  our  knowledge 
of  causes  and  effects,  or  the  philosophical  rela- 
tions of  things. 

Either  cordially  recognize  the  truth  of  the  state- 
ments made  in  the  Bible,  or  never  cross  the  thresh- 
old of  a  Christian  pulpit.  Having  settled  the  fact 
that  you  have  in  the  Bible  a  supernatural  revelation, 
transcending  all  science  and  all  speculation,  then 
press  your  powers  of  investigation  as  far  as  you 


PHILOSOPHICAL   OBJECTIONS.  87 

desire,  to  see  what  your  Creator  will  allow  you  to 
explain,  and  account  for,  by  permanent  and  far- 
reaching  principles  or  laws ;  always,  however,  car- 
rying with  you  Dr.  Paley's  rule.  Never  let  what  you 
do  know  be  shaken  by  that  which  you  do  not 
know. 


FOURTH   LECTURE. 
§111. — The  Theology  of  Revivals. 

Having  surveyed  our  subject  on  its  philosophi- 
cal side,  let  us  now  proceed  to  examine  where  it 
stands  in  relation  to  doctrines,  or  the  classified 
truths  of  revelation  or  theology. 

Science,  speculation,  logic,  philosophy,  are 
bound  to  behave  with  more  modesty  than  has  thus 
far  distinguished  their  treatment  of  subjects  be- 
longing to  a  sphere  to  which  they  are  no  more 
adapted  than  the  finned  fish  to  the  upper  regions 
of  our  atmosphere. 
\  Ignoring  facts  is  not  science :  the  finding  d 
^  priori  theories  to  govern  the  world  is  not  philoso- 
phy. Here  are  the  whole  universe  of  religious 
facts,  for  which  we  ask  an  explanation.  If  "the 
world  by  wisdom  knows  not  God,"  *  let  the  world 
have  honesty  and  modesty  enough  not  to  pretend 
that  it  does.  If  "the  natural  man  receiveth  not 
the  things  of  the  Spirit,"  f  let  him  have  the  candor 
to  confess  it,  and  the  modesty  to  believe  there  may 
be  some  worlds  he  has  not  yet  seen,  some  sub- 
stances he  has  not  weighed  in  his  balances,  some 

*  I  Cor.  i.  21.  t  I  Cor.  ii.  14. 


THE   THEOLOGY   OF   REVIVALS.  89 

forces  he  has  not  yet  discovered,  some  beings 
before  whom  he  and  his  attainments  do  not  appear 
as  vast  as  to  his  own  vision,  "more  things  in 
heaven  and  earth  than  are  dreamed  of  in  his  phi- 
losophy." 

We  welcome  the  testimony  of  Scripture  to  ex- 
plain to  us  the  phenomena  we  witness,  the  most 
mysterious  elements  in  human  history.  We  do  in- 
deed find  developments  in  societies  and  nations; 
but  we  find  every  form  of  development,  except 
one,  tending  to  either  stagnation  or  extinction. 
Every  species  of  civilization,  except  one,  termi- 
nates in  either  petrifaction  or  annihilation;  and 
that  one,  involving  all  the  elements  of  permanence 
and  progress,  is  the  Judaico-Christian  civilization, 
founded  upon  a  supernatural  dispensation  and 
record,  all  miraculous,  from  beginning  to  end. 
Nor  has  any  one  a  right  to  eliminate  from  that  dis- 
pensation and  record  this  essential  element,  and  at- 
tribute these  to  subordinate  forces  in  the  system. 

Turning  from  the  vain  conjectures  of  man  to 
the  teachings  of  his  Maker,  we  have  opened  to  our 
view  the  grandest  spectacle  the  mind  can  conceive. 
It  is  the  history  of  the  human  race  viewed  from  a 
central  point;  its  variety,  vastness,  and  discord- 
ance brought  into  a  glorious  unity.  Enveloping 
all  other  powers  is  revealed  to  us  one  controlling 
agent ;  not  fate,  destiny,  tyranny,  chemical  affinity, 
gravitation,  climate,  nor  any  form  of  animal  vitali- 
ty, but  will,  illumined  by  infinite  wisdom,  guided 

8* 


QO  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

by  infinite  goodness,  and  competent  to  every  thing 
except  intrinsic  impossibilities. 

Open  the  Boole  of  Daniel,  and  witness  the  stu- 
pendous panorama,  —  the  kingcjoms  of  the  v^orld, 
in  their  grandeur  and  their  pettiness,  their  strength 
and  their  frailty,  rising  successively  to  view,  and 
successively  swallowed  in  the  rushing  current  of 
time's  ceaseless  flood.  Amid  them  all  you  behold 
one  kingdom  alone  enduring,  —  the  kingdom  of  the 
Messiah. 

This  glorious  book  makes  the  apostasy  the 
starting-point  of  history,  the  triumphant  kingdom 
of  Jesus  its  culmination.  From  the  failure  of 
Adam,  the  representative  man,  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  probation,  God  commenced  recovering 
whatever  may  be  from  the  wreck.  The  kingdom 
of  heaven,  which  is  the  kingdom  of  Emmanuel,  is 
the  mightiest  of  institutions ;  not  of  this  world, 
yet  working  in  it  to  gather  together  its  loyal  sub- 
jects on  another  and  better  continent. 

To  understand  Revivals  of  religion,  to  appreciate 
their  solemnity,  sublimity,  and  importance,  we 
must  observe  them  in  their  relations  to  that  king- 
dom, we  must  see  them  to  be  expressions  of 
God's  mercy,  proofs  of  the  reign  of  Jesus. 

This  was  the  view  presented  by  the  apostles  to 
those  who  witnessed  the  wonderful  indications  of 
moral  power  with  which  the  Christian  dispensation 
was  ushered  in,  as  the  Mosaic  dispensation  had 
been  with  miraculous  displays  of  physical  power. 


THE    THEOLOGY   OF    REVIVALS.  91 

The  physical  miracles,  and  the  transformation  of 
character  then  taking  place,  they  attributed  to  Him 
who  had  just  been  crucified,  and  who  had  prom- 
ised to  send  down  the  Holy  Ghost  when  he  should 
have  taken  his  place  at  the  right  hand  of  the  eter- 
nal Majesty. 

When  three  thousand  hearts  yielded  in  one  hour 
to  the  persuasive  power  of  one  sermon,  Peter  turned 
every  eye  from  the  sermon  and  the  preacher  to  the 
invisible  agent  producing  these  sublime  changes : 
"  This  Jesus  hath  God  raised  up,  whereof  we  all 
are  witnesses."  *  For  that  was  the  prime  distinction 
of  an  apostle,  that  he  had  seen  the  risen  Lord. 
*' Therefore,  being  by  the  right  hand  of  God 
exalted,  and  having  received  of  the  Father  the 
promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  hath  shed  forth  this 
which  ye  now  see  and  hear."  f 

A  genuine  Revival  of  religion  is,  then,  a  link  in 
the  great  chain  of  redemption  ;  a  stage  in  advance 
of  that  kingdom  which  is  to  absorb  all  other  king- 
doms into  itself ;  a  manifestation  of  the  dominion, 
power,  and  grace  of  him  who  is  made  King  of 
kings  and  Lord  of  lords ;  a  fulfilment  of  that 
promise,  "  If  I  go  away,  I  will  send  the  Comforter ; 
and  he  shall  convince  the  world  of  sin." 

The  Revival  of  religion  comes  under  that  law  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  that  its  advancement  is  to 
be  secured  by  three  distinct  classes  of  personal 
agency,  and  one  of  instrumental  agency,  —  that  of 

*  Acts  ii.  32.  t  Acts  ii.  33. 


92  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

the  incarnate  Son  of  God,  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
man.  The  Son,  in  this,  acts  both  as  mediator  with 
the  Father,  and  as  the  God  of  Providence,  over- 
ruling all  adverse  and  friendly  forces ;  making  all 
institutions,  inventions,  discoveries,  even  opposi- 
tions to  his  cause,  from  men  or  devils,  subservient 
to  his  purposes.  The  Holy  Spirit  acts  as  his  re- 
presentative on  earth.  Man  acts  as  a  voluntary 
agent ;  and  the  gospel  of  Jesus  is  his  instrument. 

First,  then,  v^e  notice  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in 
this  connection  as  the  God  of  Providence,  and 
consider,  — 

I.  —  The  Agency  of  Providence   in   Revivals. 

We  speak  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  person  of  the 
Deity,  acting  in  his  peculiar  sphere,  because  we 
are  so  taught  by  God  himself. 

There  is  also  a  still  more  general  sphere  and 
form  of  divine  agency,  which  we  denominate 
Providence.  This  includes  the  general  control  of 
human  and  material  forces,  and  the  shaping  of  the 
lives  and  circumstances  of  individuals.  It  differs 
from  the  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  chiefly  in  this, 
—  that  the  latter  deals  with  the  inner  life  of  the  in- 
dividual ;  the  former,  with  his  outward  life,  and  all 
that  affects  that  life. 

Providence  furnishes  the  field,  the  occasion,  the 
material,  and  the  instruments  for  the  Revival. 
Peter  and  John,  and  Saul  of  Tarsus,  must  be  pro- 


THE    THEOLOGY    OF    REVIVALS.  93 

vided  as  instruments  of  the  work.  Their  educa- 
tion must  be  guided  by  an  intelligence  infinitely 
broader  than  that  of  their  parents,  who  could  by 
no  human  possibility  have  anticipated  their  life- 
work.  Saul  must  be  born  in  a  town  full  of  Gre- 
cian culture,  literature,  and  philosophy,  where  he 
can  at  the  same  time  master  Roman  law  and 
Greek  speculation.  His  parents  must  send  him  to 
Jerusalem  to  study  Jewish  law  with  Gamaliel,  an 
eminent  Pharisee.  He  must  be  brought,  at  a  par- 
ticular day  and  hour,  just  where  he  can  hear  Ste- 
phen's speech,  and  witness  his  martyrdom.  He 
must  be  guided  to  Damascus,  just  when  every 
thing  is  ripe  for  his  apostolical  labors.  Thus,  too, 
a  Waldo  is  needed,  a  Martin  Luther.  And  they 
must  be  converted ;  and  their  conversion  must 
depend,  as  a  critical  event  of  their  lives,  and  of 
human  history,  on  the  sudden  death  of  a  friend, 
in  the  case  of  each. 

So  the  separation  of  Church  and  State  in  Con- 
necticut, which  the  enemies  of  Christianity  effected, 
partly  because  the  connection  of  the  two  was  con- 
trary to  the  genius  of  our  institutions,  and  partly 
because  they  hoped  thereby  to  enfeeble  the  Church, 
was  much  dreaded  by  the  pastors  of  New  Eng- 
land. But  Dr.  Beecher  has  expressed  his  convic- 
tion, that  the  removal  of  the  church-tax,  in  various 
ways,  prepared  the  way  of  the  great  Revival  that 
so  speedily  followed  this  event,  by  destroying  the 
vain  dependence  of   believers  on  law  and  human 


94  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

authority  and  constraint,  and  compelling  them  to 
depend  on  God,  and  to  become  more  conciliatory 
and  persuasive  toward  men.  "  Before,"  he  remarks, 
"vi^e  had  been  standing  on  what  our  fathers  had 
done ;  but  now  we  were  obliged  to  develop  our  own 
resources."  And  probably  he  might  have  added, 
that  a  Church  never  can  win  men  to  Christ  or 
herself  by  assuming  the  attitude  of  authority  and 
constraint. 

Alarming  dispensations  of  Providence  have  some- 
times preceded  these  seasons  of  blessing.  The 
period  of  the  great  plague  in  London,  that  of  the 
persecution  which  drove  thousands  of  the  godly 
preachers  of  England  from  their  pulpits,  preceded 
and  accompanied  wonderful  manifestations  of  the 
Spirit's  power. 

Dr.  Cooley  states,  that  in  Granville,  Mass.,  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  sinful  diversions  had 
become  very  prevalent  among  the  young.  "  In  one 
of  their  scenes  of  amusement  God  was  pleased  to 
pour  upon  them"  his  Spirit;  but  he  first  visited 
them  with  very  awful  marks  of  his  displeasure. 
Two  young  men  were  seized  violently  ill,  and  car- 
ried out  of  the  ball-room.  A  young  woman,  in 
consequence  of  a  cold  taken  on  the  same  evening, 
was  seized  with  fever  and  delirium,  and  brought  to 
the  brink  of  the  grave.  One  of  the  young  men, 
after  a  short  illness,  died.  Being  told  by  his  weep- 
ing mother  that  he  was  dying,  he  exclaimed,  "  Oh ! 
I  cannot  die,  I  am  unprepared,"  and  immediately 


THE   THEOLOGY   OF   REVIVALS.  95 

expired.  In  a  short  time  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
v^as  manifested  in  a  Revival  that  continued  three 
years. 

There  are,  then,  instances  sufficient  in  number 
and  variety  to  estabUsh  this  principle,  that  the  sove- 
reign Spirit  of  God  employs  various  providential 
instruments  and  occasions,  prepared  for  him,  to 
accomplish  the  purposes  of  his  mercy  in  these 
manifestations  of  his  power. 

Sometimes  the  Lord  comes  forth  in  terrible 
majesty  to  awaken  salutary  fear.  Sometimes,  by  sore 
disappointments,  he  reveals  the  insufficiency  of  the 
world  to  satisfy  man's  necessities,  and  thus  pre- 
pares the  mind  for  his  offers  of  higher  good.  Then 
he  bestows  health  on  preachers  and  hearers,  and 
orders  domestic  and  other  affairs,  so  that  leisure  can 
be  had  for  attending  to  the  things  which  belong  to 
our  peace. 

It  is  not  uncommon  for  persons  describing  the 
operations  of  divine  grace  so  to  speak  of  various 
influences  affecting  the  minds  of  men  as  to  affirm 
what  they  have  not  the  means  of  knowing.  For 
instance,  a  Revival  of  peculiar  interest  occurred  in 
New  Brunswick,  N.J.,  in  1837.  ^  prominent  pas- 
tor in  that  town  affirms,  in  his  account  of  the  Re- 
vival, that  it  was  entirely  independent  of  the  terror 
inspired  by  the  cholera  of  1832,  although  he  admits 
that  the  people  were  much  alarmed.  This  scourge 
was  followed  by  a  most  destructive  tornado  in  1835  ; 
and  after  this  came  the  financial  crisis  of  1837. 


96  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

All  of  these  remarkable  dispensations  of  Provi- 
dence, he  says,  first  alarmed  the  people,  and  then 
left  them  hardened.  But  he  could  not  know  that 
hundreds  of  that  community  v^ere  not,  in  1837, 
feeling  the  subduing  influence  of  all  those  calami- 
ties, and  thus  v^ere  prepared  by  Providence  to  re- 
ceive the  special  influences  of  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord. 

If,  then,  you  would  appreciate  the  sublime  rela- 
tions of  Revivals  of  religion,  accustom  yourselves 
to  trace  the  movement  of  those  high  and  dreadful 
wheels  of  Ezekiel's  vision.  They  are  instinct  with 
the  Spirit  of  God.  Their  wings  are  high  and  dread- 
ful ;  they  are  full  of  eyes ;  the  purposes  of  divine 
wisdom,  and  the  energy  of  the  divine  will,  directing 
the  events  which  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord 
when  he  comes  in  a  Revival. 

Study  the  movements  of  that  Providence,  pre- 
paratory to  the  Revival,  which  introduced  the  Chris- 
tian ages ;  get  your  profoundest  views  of  the  Roman 
empire,  the  philosophy  of  its  history,  the  condition 
of  the  people's  minds;  study  even  the  movements 
of  the  ambitious  Macedonian  warrior;  trace  the 
phases  through  which  he  had  passed;  inform 
yourselves  fully  of  the  state  of  the  Jewish  minds, 
—  and  you  may  find  that  the  wonderful,  invisi- 
ble, omnipotent  hand  that  executes  the  fiats  of 
the  Almighty  Supreme  Will,  had  been  working  the 
Alexanders  and  the  Caesars,  the  senates  and  the 
armies,  the  philosophers,  all  as   the  mere  instru- 


THE    THEOLOGY    OF    REVIVALS.  97 

ments,  blind,  and,  in  this  respect,  involuntary ;  of 
preparing  the  way  for  the  Great  Revival  with  which 
the  Christian  dispensation  was  ushered  in.  The 
same  is  true  of  that  of  the  fifth  century,  in  which 
the  Goths,  and  the  Romans  they  had  conquered, 
yielded  to  the  King  of  Zion.  Thus  Merivale 
speaks  of  the  providential  cause,  and  of  one  instru- 
ment securing  the  latter  :  "The  faith  of  Christ  was 
already  enthroned  in  the  East ;  half  the  empire  had 
been  torn  away  from  the  '  Metropolis  of  Heathen- 
dom.' Still  the  trembling  votary  fastened  on  what 
remained,  still  refused  to  '  regard '  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  true  city  of  the  Christians. 
Then  at  last,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  came  the  as- 
sault of  Alaric  and  the  Goths ;  the  abomination 
of  desolation  stood  in  the  holy  places  of  heathen- 
dom ;  the  temples  fell,  the  idols  were  broken,  the 
spell  of  ages  was  dissolved ;  the  Romans  ceased  to 
be  a  nation  ;  and  Rome,  the  national  deity,  had  no 
more  worshippers  forever. 

"  That  was  the  moment  to  make  a  salutary,  trans- 
forming impression  upon  the  mind  of  the  heathen. 
Conversion  was  at  hand.  The  hour  had  come  ;  and 
the  man  was  not  wanting,  —  the  man  who  should 
interpret  and  apply,  under  God's  providence,  the 
teachings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Scripture.  The 
manifestation  of  the  city  of  God  by  Augustine  was 
a  full  and  final  appeal  to  the  conscience  of  the  in- 
quiring heathen,  the  stricken  and  despairing  vota- 
ries of  the  discredited  city  of  the  Romans." 
9 


98  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

We  next  consider  :  — 

II. — The   Holy    Spirit    as    the    Efficient 
Agent  in  Revivals. 

The  Scriptures  continually  compare  the  advent 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  to  the  welcome  descent  of  the 
rain.  In  this  light  they  speak  of  his  being  poured 
out  from  on  high.  And  his  influences  are  illustrated 
by  the  refreshing  influences  of  rain  in  a  drought : 
"  The  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  shall  be  glad 
for  them  ;  and  the  desert  shall  rejoice,  and  blossom 
as  the  rose.  It  shall  blossom  abundantly,  and 
rejoice  even  with  joy  and  singing:  the  glory  of 
Lebanon  shall  be  given  unto  it,  the  excellency  of 
Carmel  and  Sharon,  they  shall  see  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  excellency  of  our  God."  In  this  con- 
nection, the  whole  thirty-fifth  chapter  of  Isaiah  may 
be  read  profitably. 

Of  the  mysterious  relations  of  the  Holy  Spirit's 
action  to  the  free  and  conscious  action  of  man  in 
Revivals  we  shall  hereafter  take  notice.  At  present 
we  are  concerned  with  his  power  and  sovereignty 
in  these  operations.  In  his  own  sphere,  in  all  that 
he  does,  he  is  bound  by  no  fate  or  necessity,  by  no 
mechanical  law,  by  no  moral  obligation  of  justice, 
to  visit  our  sinful  world,  or  one  of  our  sin-defiled 
hearts.  "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth.  "  "  Is 
it  not  lawful  for  me  to  do  what  I  will  with  mine 
own  } "    "  Therefore  hath  he  mercy  on  whom  he 


THE   THEOLOGY   OF   REVIVALS.  99 

will    have    mercy,    and    whom    he    will    he    har- 
deneth." 

Cast  a  glance  over  the  field  covered  with  the 
spiritually  dead,  —  the  mighty  Roman  empire  rotten 
to  its  core,  and  hastening  to  disintegration  ;  the 
Jewish  Church,  become,  as  the  Lord  described  it,  ''  a 
carcass,"  whose  offensive  odor  attracts  the  obscene 
birds  to  feed  on  its  flesh  ! 

And  was  a  new  world  to  spring  out  of  the  abyss, 
a  cosmos  from  chaos  ?  Were  the  Jeromes,  the 
Chrysostoms,  the  Monicas,  the  Augustines,  of  the 
Church,  to  come  up  from  among  their  descendants  ? 
Were  all  the  grandeur  and  might  of  modern  Euro- 
pean civilization  to  succeed  such  degradation  ?  Was 
Christianity  to  start  from  that  point  ?  Yes ;  but 
by  what  law,  —  that  of  development  ?  Credat  yu- 
dcBiLS  Apella, 

There  was  the  sphere  of  the  Spirit's  regenerating 
power.  On  the  face  of  that,  as  of  the  original 
chaos,  "  the  Spirit  of  God  moved."  Then,  as  at 
first,  God  said,  "  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was 
light."  The  Christian  economy  was  introduced  by 
Revival  of  religion,  a  convulsion,  a  series  of  agi- 
tations, a  destructive  and  a  constructive  process. 
Dead  members  of  the  Hebrew  Church  came  to  life. 
Pagans,  in  thousands,  became  conscious  of  a  new 
power  working  within  them ;  and  then  began  the 
new  life  of  holiness.  Enemies  censured,  ridiculed, 
raved,  persecuted  ;  conservative  saints  criticised 
and  opposed  ;  hypocrites  took  the  mask  to  dishonor 


100  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

the  cause :  yet  the  swelHng  torrent  of  mercy,  fed 
by  the  showers  descending  on  the  summits  of  the 
everlasting  hills,  rolled  on,  refreshing  the  parched 
v^ilderness,  and  making  it  bloom  as  Eden. 

In  three  centuries,  through  which  that  work  of 
grace  continued,  millions  were  converted,  churches 
displaced  temples,  Dagon  fell  before  the  ark  of 
Jehovah.  Nor  did  the  sacred  impulse  fail  until 
Caesar  had  bowed  the  knee  to  Jesus,  and  on  the 
banner  of  the  empire  was  emblazoned  the  symbol  of 
the  gibbeted  Nazarene.  Thus  was  the  downward 
tendency  of  society  checked  :  the  race  was  saved. 

And  when  the  remainder  of  the  work  of  purga- 
tion had  been  accomplished  by  fire  and  sword,  and 
the  barbarous  Goths  had  flooded  the  empire,  there 
was  found  vital  energy  sufficient  in  the  vanquished 
converts  to  regenerate  their  conquerors  ;  and  Eu- 
rope started  on  that  grand  career,  which,  at  the  end 
of  fourteen  centuries,  we  see  her,  and  her  scattered 
descendants,  still  pursuing.  Is  not  this  a  manifes- 
tation of  the  Spirit's  power  that  should  command 
the  world's  admiration  } 

The  Revival  ceased ;  and  sad  declensions  followed, 
demonstrating  that  the  human  and  the  divine  work 
in  the  same  sphere.  "  The  servants  of  the  house- 
holder came  and  said  unto  him,  Sir,  didst  not 
thou  sow  good  seed  in  thy  field  .'*  from  whence,  then, 
hath  it  tares  .''  He  said  unto  them,  An  enemy 
hath  done  this."  * 

*  Matt,  xiii,  27,  28. 


THE   THEOLOGY   OF    REVIVALS.  lOI 

From  the  close  of  the  fourth  century  to  the 
present  day,  we  notice  the  constantly-repeated,  and, 
to  a  certain  extent,  effective  resistance  to  decay  and 
destruction  presented  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Nothing  can  be  more  unfounded .  than  the  infer-  ^ 
ence,  from  the  imperfection  and  intermittent  fea- 
ture of  Revivals,  that  their  origin  is  not  divine. 
Who  denies  that  God  made  man,  because  he  was 
made  capable  of  apostasy,  and  liable  to  sin,  and 
sure  to  sin,  or  because  man  abuses  his  faculties, 
and  effaces  the  godlike  features  from  his  soul? 
Who  maintains  that  God  did  not  organize  the 
Church,  because  it  has  become,  at  times,  a  den  of 
thieves }  Or  who  reasons,  from  their  perver- 
sion by  man,  that  the  family,  the  State,  and 
every  other  beneficent  institution,  are  not  from 
God.? 

Whether  we  adopt,  to  account  for  it,  the  principle 
of  justice,  or  that  of  sovereignty,  the  case  remains 
the  same.  The  Holy  Spirit  does  affect  the  indi^iid- 
ual  heart,  and  also  whole  bodies  of  men,  differently 
at  different  periods.  Now  the  plenitude  of  his 
power  is  felt :  now  man  is  left  more  fully  to  his 
imbecility,  his  ignorance,  his  great  adversary.  The 
reasons  for  religious  earnestness  remain  un- 
changed; but  they  cease  to  be  felt  by  believers 
as  impulses  to  aggressive  efforts  and  special 
prayer:  the  religious  sensibilities  of  the  uncon- 
verted sink  into  the  torpor  of  death. 

In  the  spiritual  life,  both  of  individuals  and  com- 


I02  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

munities,  there  are  varieties  and  fluctuations,  ad- 
vances and  retrocessions. 

But  for  this  fact,  a  second  Revival  could  never 
occur  ;  as  there  could  Jdc  no  spring,  if  there  were  no 
winter.  However,  then,  we  blame  declensions,  the 
censure  must  never  attach  to  the  Revival. 

The  Pentecostal  Revival  manifestly  spread  its  in- 
fluence through  three  or  four  centuries.  Nor  is  it 
certain  that  the  eye  of  the  historian  may  not  yet 
detect  the  living  stream,  uninterrupted  in  its  flow 
to  the  present  day,  hidden  in  the  dark  and  tan- 
gled forests  through  which  it  has  run,  —  here  wide 
as  the  earth ;  there  creeping  along  its  narrow  chan- 
nel, unnoticed  by  a  godless  world. 

III.  —  Human  Agency. 

Accepting  the  principle  that  a  human  and  a 
divine  agency  can  occupy  the  same  sphere,  each 
having  its  own  place  in  the  production  of  a  com- 
mon result,  we  find  no  embarrassment,  either  in 
comprehending  how  man  can  be  required  to  do 
that,  which,  without  the  spontaneous  action  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  he  cannot  accomplish,  or  in  inducing 
man  to  exercise  the  most  complete  feeling  of  de- 
pendence on  the  Holy  Spirit,  while  putting  forth 
his  entire  personal  power.  Creation  and  redemp- 
tion are  the  two  forms  of  progress  in  the  universe 
which  are  accomplished  by  divine  power  alone; 
but  development  requires  both  divine  power  and 


THE    THEOLOGY    OF    REVIVALS.  I03 

human  co-operation.  Beautiful  are  the  analogies 
of  Nature  and  grace  :  beautiful  occasions  are  found 
in  both  for  exercising  a  devout  spirit  of  depend- 
ence, a  fervent  spirit  of  supplication,  and  a  profound 
sense  of  responsibility.  The  whole  subject  meets 
us  with  powerful  appeals  to  conscience,  and  to  all 
our  nobler  sentiments,  abounding  in  the  m^ost 
tender  and  urgent  appeals  to  our  piety  and  our 
philanthropy,  pressing  us  to  engage  in  obtaining 
Revivals. 

In  Providence  and  in  grace  much  is  done  for 
mian  without  which  his  labors  would  be  fruitless  ; 
but  in  each  a  work  is  assigned  to  man  as  really 
indispensable  as  that  of  the  Almighty.  In  Provi- 
dence, the  power  of  God  furnishes  seedtime,  and 
the  thousand  forces  necessary  for  the  germination 
of  a  stalk  of  wheat  and  its  bearded  ears ;  but  man 
must  plough  and  sow  and  reap  and  grind  and 
bake,  in  order  to  have  bread  for  his  nourishment. 
God  must  likewise  make  a  covenant  with  Abraham, 
a  promise  to  David;  fulfil  them  in  the  birth  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  give  him  to  the  death  of  the 
cross,  send  forth  his  Word  and  Spirit  to  save  men. 
But  each  man's  salvation  is  conditioned  on  his  own 
repenting  and  believing,  which  God  will  never  do 
for  him.  Sometimes  the  sovereighty  of  the  Spirit 
is  made  to  appear  very  distinct.  Generally  the 
agency  of  man  is  made  very  prominent,  even  in 
the  early  stages  of  the  work. 

The  first  stage  in  which  man's  action  appears  is 


104  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

desire,  more  or  less  intense,  for  the  unspeakable 
blessing ;  one  soul,  at  least,  seeking  supremely  the 
manifestation  of  the  ineffable  glory  of  God,  or  of 
the  loveliness  of  Christ  to  others,  as  the  individ- 
ual himself  beholds  it.  Sometimes  the  loss  of  the 
souls  of  others  becomes  an  intolerable  burden  to 
the  heart.  Its  inquiry,  by  day  and  by  night,  is, 
How  can  they  live  on  in  sin,  and  bear  eternally  the 
wrath  of  God } 

Good  men  in  the  dark  regions  of  Paganism, 
from  their  point  of  view,  saw  enough  in  man's 
moral  condition  to  arouse  in  their  hearts  intense 
desires  to  elevate  their  neighbors,  if  no  others. 
Confucius  must  have  felt  the  workings  of  an  intense 
zeal  to  lift  men  out  of  the  quagmire  of  immorality, 
when  he  gathered  all  the  wisdom  of  his  ancestors 
together,  shaping  it  into  maxims  and  precepts. 

Socrates  was  really  an  apostle  in  spirit,  a  genu- 
ine martyr  of  truth,  if  not  of  Christianity.  He 
saw  two  facts  of  supreme  importance,  with  that 
clear,  concentrated,  vision,  which  may  be  compared 
to  the  double-convex  sun-glass,  bringing  to  a  burn- 
ing focus  the  scattered  beams  of  truth,  and  which 
is  the  distinguishing  feature  of  all  true  greatness. 
He  saw  that  the  mind  of  man  had  been  cheated 
by  the  sophists ;  that  truth  was  its  aliment,  its 
vital  breath ;  and  he  gave  himself  up  with  apos- 
tolic zeal  to  one  single  life-work,  regardless  of  any 
and  all  consequences  to  himself,  unmoved  by  the 
most  terrible  when  he  met  it. 


THE   THEOLOGY   OF    REVIVALS.  1 05 

If  the  dim,  scattered  rays  of  truth  which  he 
beheld  so  affected  him,  how  ought  we  to  feel  and 
act,  on  whom  the  Sun  of  righteousness  has  arisen 
to  shed  his  healing  beams  ?  This  is  the  very  start- 
ing-point of  a  Revival,  —  an  intense  desire  in  some 
heart  or  hearts  to  have  men  awakened  from  the 
fatal  slumbers  of  unbelief,  that  they  may  walk  in 
the  light  of  an  eternal  day. 

To  this  desire  succeed  two  movements,  —  the 
one  Godward ;  the  other  Man  ward.  This  burden 
presses  the  soul  to  the  footstool  of  sovereign  grace 
first,  and  then  to  seek  for  the  lost,  and  to  draw  them 
to  Christ.  Of  the  various  forms  which  human 
agency  has  successfully  adopted,  we  will  speak 
when  we  come  to  the  practical  view  of  our  sub- 
ject. 

At  present,  it  may  suffice  to  state  the  fact,  that 
man  is  an  agent  in  Revivals.  Paul  speaks  unquali- 
fiedly of  his  agency  in  men's  conversion,  and  calls 
his  converts  his  joy,  his  glory,  and  crown  of  re- 
joicing. 

We  then  pass  to  notice,  that,  while  man  is  a  sub- 
ordinate agent  in  this  great  work,  he  is  limited  to 
one  instrument.     That  we  now  consider  :  — 

IV.  —  The  Agency  of  the  Gospel. 

Men  are  said  to  be  quickened,  regenerated,  by 
the  truth,  the  word  of  God.  There  are  two 
classes  of  truths  in  the  Bible,  —  the  class  that  Na- 


Io6  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

ture  reveals,  and  introduced  as  subsidiary  to  the 
other  class ;  but  this  is  such  as  "  the  natural  man 
discerneth,"  and  is  not  by  itself  able  to  renew  the 
heart.  The  other  class,  supernaturally  revealed  to 
us,  and  received  by  us,  we  call  the  gospel,  —  to  the 
Greek,  folly ;  to  the  Jew,  a  stumbling-block ;  to  the 
redeemed,  "the  wisdom  and  power  of  God." 

Now,  which  are  those  truths  ?  On  the  right 
classification  and  selection  depends  the  main  differ- 
ence between  a  Pagan  teacher  and  a  Christian 
preacher ;  between  Plato  and  Paul.  To  exhibit  only 
natural  religion  is  not  preaching  Christ. 

A  Scotch  minister,  in  1740,  gives  the  prominent 
topics  of  his  Revival-sermons.  They  are  :  regen- 
eration ;  law  and  gospel  mixed  in  the  same  sermon  ; 
and  the  terrors  of  damnation.  Mr.  Whitefield  mainly 
presented  these  :  original  sin  ;  justification  by  faith; 
regeneration,  its  nature,  necessity  ;  the  person  and 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  conviction,  conversion; 
sanctification,  and  witnessing  to  the  believer  his 
sonship  and  adoption. 

While  Edwards  was  preaching  on  the  topic, 
"  Sinners  in  the  hands  of  an  angry  God,"  men 
could  scarcely  sit  upon  their  seats  under  the 
awful  impressions  he  produced.  The  Wesleys 
brought  the  mercy  of  God,  the  fulness,  freeness, 
blessedness,  of  salvation,  in  new  aspects  to  the 
minds  of  men.  They  preached  a  present,  per- 
sonal salvation,  Isaac  Taylor  says,  "  The  Method- 
ist  preacher  waked  up "   a    consciousness  toward 


THE   THEOLOGY   OF    REVIVALS.  107 

Almighty  God,  which  gave  a  meaning  to  words 
that  had  been  unmeaning  as  used  in  the  Liturgy 
of  the  Church  of  England,  —  such  as,  "  the  wrath 
of  God,  eternal  damnation."  The  next  point  he 
secured  was  the  paternity  of  God  to  the  indi- 
vidual. Individualizing  characterized  Whitefield. 
The  third  element  he  described  to  be  salvation,  full, 
free,  and  sovereignly  bestowed,  wrought  and  ob- 
tained for  men  by  the  Son  of  God ;  and  which  may 
now,  in  this  life,  even  in  this  very  hour,  be  entered 
upon  and  enjoyed  by  every  one  who  thereto  con- 
sents. The  final  element  of  Methodism,  as  pre- 
sented by  its  first  preachers,  was  evangelical 
philanthropy,  a  brotherly  love,  and  the  missionary, 
working,  spirit  of  religion. 

One  preacher  describes  his  preaching  by  its 
prominent  doctrines  ;  another,  by  particular  texts  ; 
and  another,  by  their  characteristics. 

Mr.  Leonard,  preaching  in  the  Revival  at  Plym- 
outh, Mass.,  in  1744,  signalizes  original  sin,  man  s 
spiritual  blindness,  his  enmity  against  God,  his 
inability  to  save  himself,  the  evil  of  sin,  its  eter- 
nal consequences,  the  sovereignty  of  God  in  re- 
newing the  heart,  the  person  and  attributes  of 
God,  grace,  redemption,  justification  by  faith,  faith 
the  gift  of  God,  regeneration,  as  indispensable 
themes. 

To  all  these  statements  we  may  simply  add  the 
glorious  person  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  his  in- 
effable love  to  man. 


I08  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

§  IV.  —  The  History  of  Revivals. 

We  are  nov^  to  glance  at  one  feature  of  the 
entire  history  of  our  race,  and  endeavor  to  discover 
what  place  Revivals  of  religion  have  occupied  in  it ; 
what  part  they  have  had  in  elevating  the  race ; 
how  far  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  has  been  pleased 
to  act  powerfully  on  communities  ;  and  what  forms 
of  Revival  have  characterized  different  periods  of 
history. 

Under  civico-religious  Revivals  we  have  placed 
all  those  religious  movements  which  have  either 
changed  the  outward  form  and  action  of  the 
Church,  or  removed  some  obstacles  to  her  progress 
that  existed  in  the  institutions  or  customs  of  sur- 
rounding society. 

We  are  now  to  sketch  a  very  rude  outline  of  this 
branclf  of  our  subject ;  for  rude  and  defective  it  must 
be,  when  so  vast  a  topic,  embracing  such  boundless 
details  of  events,  is  to  be  presented  within  the 
limited  time  alloted  to  this  course  of  study. 

The  method  adopted  is  sometimes  to  give  the 
general  features  of  a  particular  Revival ;  sometimes 
to  expand  it  somewhat ;  and  again,  where  a  single 
mind  and  heart,  or  a  few  of  the  born  leaders  of  the 
race,  appear  on  the  scene,  to  sketch  their  personal 
history  as  the  forming  influence  of  the  epoch. 

We  meet,  then, — 

/.   TJie   Ante-Mosaic   Revivals.  —  The    first  dis- 


THE    HISTORY    OF    REVIVALS.  I09 

pensation  of  grace  to  our  fallen  world  came  to 
us  in  the  form  of  family  religion.  This  at  length 
yielded  to,  or  expanded  into,  the  patriarchal  form  ;  . 
and  under  that  dispensation  we  have  the  mere  hint 
of  one  Revival  extending  beyond  the  family  of  one 
man.  We  find  it  in  the  expression,  "Then,"  that  a 
is,  in  the  day  of  the  godly  Seth,  ''  began  men  to  call 
upon  the  name  of  the  Lord."*  Besides  this,  we  have 
a  doctrinal  Revival  in  Noah's  emerging  from  the 
ark  to  substitute  the  pure  theism  of  antiquity  for 
the  pernicious  dogmas  of  the  old  polytheism. 

Then  we  meet,  — 

//.  T/ie  yewish  Revivals,  beginning  at  the  period 
of  the  Jews  becoming  a  distinct  national  existence, 
and  their  Church  taking  an  organized  form,  —  the 
escape  from  Egypt  under  the  guidance  of  Moses. 
This  was  a  distinct  civico-religious  Revival. 

Moses  was  one  of  those  men  who  embody  in 
their  persons  and  personal  histories  the  spirit  of 
an  epoch.  His  natural  endowments  were  very 
peculiar.  Like  Washington,  he  was  brilliant  in  no 
one  quality,  grand  in  the  massiveness  and  majesty 
of  his  character  and  life,  yet  leaving  our  noble 
deliverer  far  in  the  background  in  both  personal 
qualities  and  achievements. 

He  was  indeed  a  poet,  a  lawgiver,  a  judge,  a 
warrior,  the  founder  of  a  State,  the  organizer  of 
the  Jewish  Church.  But  he  is  scarcely  seen  in  the 
grandeur  of  any  one  department  of  his  character 

10  *  Gen.  iv.  26. 


no  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

and  achievements,  because  the.  whole  is  so  unique, 
so  subhme. 

We  lose  sight  of  his  childhood  and  youth  amid 
the  courtiers  surrounding  the  throne  of  Pharaoh, 
Imagination  is  left  unobstructed  and  unaided  by 
any  except  one  or  two  hints  of  his  condition  and 
pursuits  there.  He  evidently  had,  as  the  adopted 
grandchild  of  the  king,  the  entree  of  the  court. 
Its  pleasures,  its  honors,  were  probably  all  acces- 
sible to  him  as  fully  as  to  the  children  of  Ham. 
But  we  find  two  statements  which  mark  very 
definitely  the  outline  of  his  course.  Under  his 
mother's  faithful  guidance,  he  appears  to  have 
chosen  with  unreserved  purpose  the  living  God  for 
his  portion,  however  unpopular  that  might  make 
him  at  that  idolatrous  court.  The  whole  round  of 
its  pleasures  and  honors  were  to  him  utterly 
unattractive  when  compared  with  the  service  of 
Jehovah. 

We  learn,  also,  that  he  understood  the  grand 
designs  of  God  in  reference  to  his  people ;  and  so, 
thoroughly  identified  himself  with  them  in  their 
enslaved  and  depressed  state,  rather  than  to  reign 
as  a  Pharaoh  ;  "  esteeming  the  reproach  of  Christ 
greater  riches  than  the  treasures  of  Egypt,  .  .  . 
choosing  rather  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people 
of  God  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a 
season."* 

The  other  suggestion  we  find  concerning  his  life 

*  Heb.  xi.  2;,  2h. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    REVIVALS.  Ill 

in  Egypt,  is,  that  he  "was  learned  in  all  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Egyptians,"  as  well  as  "mighty  in 
words  and  deeds."  This,  then,  exhibits  him  to  us 
in  the  learned  circles  of  that  land,  and  taking 
rank  with  the  leaders  of  the  intellectual  world. 
He  had  both  the  wisdom  of  the  world  and  the 
direct  revelation  from  God  concerning  man  and 
his  relations  to  God. 

In  his  mind  was  deposited  the  germinal  truth 
which  has  been  the  leaven  fermenting  and  im- 
proving the  world  for  more  than  thirty  centuries, 
saving  it  from  stagnation  and  utter  forgetfulness 
of  God.  Well  might  the  Psalmist  mention  among 
the  occasions  of  our  thankfulness,  this,  that  "  he 
made  known  his  ways  unto  Moses,  his  acts  unto 
the  children  of  Israel."* 

The  unreflecting  have  not  recognized  the  influ- 
ence of  that  man's  life  and  character  on  the  world. 
But  we  are  feeling,  this  day,  most  effectively,  in 
every  part  of  our  mental  being,  the  influence  of 
that  one  man,  and  of  the  Revival  in  which  the 
Lord  called  him  to  be  the  leader. 

Deep  in  his  spirit  were  the  knowledge,  love,  rev- 
erence, and  trust  of  Jehovah.  Loving  him,  no  other 
love  could  divert  him  from  the  service  of  God ; 
trusting  him,  he  dared  undertake  any  task  assigned 
him,  if  we  except  the  one  case  in  which  his  faith 
was  not  strong  enough  to  overcome  his  diffidence 
of  himself.     He  could  meet  Pharaoh  face  to  face; 

*  Psalm  ciii.  7. 


112  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

he  could  fight  the  astrologers ;  he  could  risk  his 
life  for  Israel  and  Israel's  God :  but  he  could  not 
make  a  speech.  Fearing  the  Lord  had  cast  out 
every  other  fear. 

This  man  has  stamped  his  name  on  the  foun- 
tains and  rocks  of  the  Eastern  v^rorld,  and  also  in 
the  hearts  of  all  that  to  us  so  singular  people. 
The  Revival  under  his  labors  came,  so  far  as  he 
was  connected  with  it,  after  sixty  years  of  prayer 
and  patient  waiting,  supposing  him  to  have  com- 
menced in  his  twentieth  year  to  comprehend,  in 
some  degree,  the  divine  purpose  concerning  Israel. 

In  the  desert  he  waited  and  studied  and  prayed ; 
not  eager  nor  restless,  not  discouraged  nor  self- 
willed,  but  firmly  expecting,  earnestly  praying,  and 
calmly  waiting  for  God  to  move,  and  call  him  to 
move. 

As  an  ambassador  of  the  King  of  kings,  he 
appeared  before  the  mighty  monarch  of  Egypt, 
and  produced  a  credential  which  the  Egyptians 
declared  represented  a  God  no  way  superior  to 
theirs.  At  length  he  brought  forward  the  certifi- 
cates which  staggered  the  faith,  or  rather  unbelief, 
of  the  king  and  his  councillors. 

He  then  led  his  people  forth,  organized,  de- 
fended, guided,  instructed,  judged,  and  prayed  for 
them. 

The  exodus  was  indeed  a  Revival.  Its  spirit, 
its  aims,  its  results,  were  high  exhibitions  of  the 
grace  of    God,  and  of  his  mercy  to  our  apostate 


THE    HISTORY   OF    REVIVALS.  II3 

race.  It  was  a  Revival  that  constituted  a  nation 
a  church,  that  checked  the  career  of  a  world  rush- 
ing toward  the  abyss,  that  included  the  sublime 
scenes  on  the  summit  of.  Sinai,  where  Jehovah 
clothed  himself  in  the  symbols  of  his  terrible 
majesty,  and  man  communed  with  his  Maker  face 
to  face,  and  began  to  form  true  conceptions  of 
God's  moral  government. 

This  Revival  prepared  the  way  for  that  ceremo- 
nial system  which  preached  the  gospel  for  fifteen 
centuries  before  the  facts  that  lie  at  the  founda- 
tion of  that  gospel  could  enter  the  current  of 
events.  It  raised  the  multitude  of  slaves  into  the 
rank  of  a  people  who  should  give  birth  and 
training  to  the  grandest  race  of  men  our  earth  has 
borne :  I  mean  the  Jewish  prophets,  the  Samuels 
and  Elijahs ;  the  Isaiahs,  Jeremiahs,  Ezekiels,  and 
Daniels  ;  Peter,  John,  and  Paul,  —  men  whose  deeds 
and  words  have  so  blessed  the  human  race. 

Never  hesitate  to  call  this  one  in  the  line  of 
Revivals,  and  to  affiliate  it  with  our  own  local  Re- 
vivals ;  that  and  these  abounding  in  human  imper- 
fections, but  both  alike  purposed  in  heaven,  given 
in  infinite  mercy,  carried  forward  by  a  supernatural 
power,  and  contributing  to  bless  the  race  of  man- 
kind, and  lead  the  individual  to  eternal  life. 

When  the  desert-discipline  was  terminated,  then 

Joshua  led  the  Church  from  her  nomadic  life  to 

possess  her  geographical  station  in  the  centre  of 

the   then   inhabited   portion  of   the  globe,  as  one 
10* 


114  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

of  the  recognized  nations  of  the  earth,  though  very 
exclusive  in  character  and  customs. 

This*  was  a  generation  much  superior  to  the 
body  which  came  from  Egypt.  Yet  their  settlement 
in  Canaan  exhibits  no  special  transition  or  Revival- 
features  ;  or,  if  any,  a  much  smaller  number  than 
we  witness  in  the  periods  of  their  return  from 
exile.  Under  the  Maccabees,  religious  patriotism 
received  a  new  impulse. 

If  we  look  for  the  Revivals  distinguished  by 
quickened  sanctification,  we  find  them  in  the  days 
of  Samuel,  of  David,  Josiah  and  Hezekiah,  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah. 

But  perhaps  no  period  of  the  Jewish  history 
was  marked  with  more  peculiar  features  of  reli- 
gious interest  than  that  in  which  its  glory  expired. 
Under  the  preaching  of  the  Lord's  forerunner, 
multitudes  were  awakened  to  a  new  apprehension 
of  their  need  of  repentance ;  and  they  appear  to 
have  turned  to  the  Lord  in  great  numbers. 

But,  before  the  Christian  era,  the  doctrine  of 
regeneration  had  not  been  formulated,  and  scarcely 
conceived  by  believers,  although  their  prophets 
had  used  this  language :  "Make  you  a  new  heart ;  " 
''  Renew  a  right  spirit  within  me." 

If  men's  hearts  were  renewed,  it  could  not  be 
regarded  by  them,  as  it  is  by  us  who  have  heard 
the  Lord's  declaration,  that  all  men  must  be  per- 
sonally and  radically  changed  in  order  to  enter 
the  kingdom  of  heaven. 


THE  APOSTOLICAL  REVIVALS.  II5 

We  come,  then,  to  — 

III.  —  The  Apostolical  Revivals. 

On  the  day  of  the  ever  memorable  Pentecost 
began  the  first  Christian  Revival ;  when  the  Spirit, 
proceeding  from  the  Son,  according  to  the  tenor  of 
his  covenant  with  the  Father,  descended  at  Jeru- 
salem, —  first  upon  the  disciples  assembled  and 
praying  for  his  coming;  then  upon  the  people, 
convincing  them  of  sin,  righteousness,  and  judg- 
ment, and  leading  thousands  to  put  their  trust  in 
the  crucified,  risen,  and  glorified  Redeemer. 

This  first  Revival  under  the  New  Testament 
dispensation,  was,  first,  a  quickening  of  faith  and 
zeal  in  the  hearts  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty 
disciples.  Then  it  became  a  Revival  in  the  hearts 
of  the  unconverted ;  all  the  slumbering  energies 
of  conscience  being  aroused.  All  the  religious 
aspirations,  long  quenched,  were  rekindled,  and  car- 
ried to  the  extent  of  radical  spiritual  renovation. 
It  was,  at  the  same  time,  eminently  a  doctrinal 
Revival ;  since  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  were 
proclaimed  as  never  before. 

The  impulse  of  this  Revival  continued  to  be  felt 
through  four  centuries,  swelling,  like  a  wave  of 
the  sea,  steadily  onward,  until  the  battle  of  the 
Milvian  Bridge  put  the  sceptre  in  the  hands  of 
Constantine,  and  destroyed  thus  the  power  of 
Pagan  persecution ;  and  then  the  decree  of  Milan 


Il6  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

pronounced  the  religion  of  the  cross  the  rehgion 
of  the  empire. 

From  that  time  conversions  occurred  frequently, 
decreasing  in  intensity  as  they  increased  in  num- 
bers. Worldly  influences  had  made  it  dangerous 
to  confess  Christ ;  thus  John  declared  that  no  man 
could  say  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah,  but  the 
pov^er  of  the  Holy  Ghost  emboldening  him.  Now 
this  was  all  changed.  Worldly  motives  led  to  the 
profession  of  Christ's  religion;  and  thus  the  Re- 
vival declined  in  the  very. triumph  of  the  cause. 

True  piety  now  began  to  shrink  from  the  public 
gaze.  The  most  godly  men  feared  the  effects  of 
Constantine's  patronage.  And  the  historian  must 
here  date  the  great  declension. 

From  time  to  time  he  will  meet  an  Ambrose,  an 
Augustine,  a  Chrysostom,  a  Waldo,  a  Wickliffe,  a 
Huss  ;  but  they  are  rare. 

However,  amid  the  periods  of  deepest  declen- 
sion, the  Lord  never  left  himself  without  a  witness. 
There  were  probably,  even  then,  men  who  faith- 
fully held  forth  the  word  of  life.  Even  then  the 
divine  glories  and  the  realities  of  redemption  and 
retribution,  held  up  to  the  sinner's  gaze,  must  have 
been  efficacious  to  thousands  of  whom  we  shall 
never  hear  in  this  world.  These  stupendous  reali- 
ties must  have  turned  many  from  their  sins  to  their 
Saviour,  among  all  nations,  —  from  the  Chaldees  in 
Britain  to  the  western  boundary  of  Paganism. 


FIFTH    LECTURE. 

We  are  now  to  consider,  — 
IV.  —  The  Post-Apostolical  Revivals. 

We  notice  first,  — 

I.  TJie  Indirect  Revivals.  —  Those  we  have 
called  politico-religious,  began  with  the  Reformation 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  have  been  repeated 
in  the  Thirty- Years'  War,  and  in  various  move- 
ments, already  described,  in  Switzerland,  England, 
and  Scotland.  The  moral  reformations  have  been 
directed  to  duelling,  sabbath-breaking,  intemper- 
ance, and  slavery;  none  of  them  assuming  any 
large  dimensions,  except  the  last  two. 

The  doctrinal  Revivals  began  in  the  first  century, 
assuming  one  of  four  forms,' — apologies,  contro- 
versies, system  and  creed  making,  philosophic 
construction. 

These  movements  have  been  extended  through 
the  entire  space  of  the.  Christian  centuries,  em- 
bracing libraries  of  individual  writings,  and  the 
whole  history  of  the  early  and  mediaeval  councils. 

The  order  of  these  efforts  it  is  sufficient  to  state 

117 


Il8  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

here.  The  apologetic  writings  extend  to  the 
death  of  Origen,  in  254;  the  polemic,  to  730;  the 
systematic,  to  15 17;  the  attack  on  ecclesiastical 
tyranny,  or  contest  for  freedom  of  thought,  to  1720 ; 
the  attempts  to  harmonize  philosophy  and  the 
doctrines  of  Christ,  to  our  day. 

2.  Direct  Revivals,  among  those  of  doubtful 
value,  are  seen  in  the  mediaeval  zeal  for  church 
architecture  and  ecclesiastical  organization.  But 
pre-eminent  among  the  genuine  direct  Revivals  is 
the  quickening  of  tJie  spirit  of  benevolence.  We 
find  this,  indeed,  in  the  earliest  records  of  the 
Church,  even  in  the  history  of  the  exodus,  where 
the  zeal  for  public  worship  and  the  national  wel- 
fare led  to  a  generous  bestowment  of  private 
property  on  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle.  The 
statement  is,  ''The  children  of  Israel  brought 
a  willing  offering  unto  the  Lord."  *  Perhaps  it 
was  the  first  instance  of  those  contributions, 
become  now  so  common,  ever  witnessed  in  the 
world. 

We  meet  the  same  quickening  of  public  spirit, 
religious  zeal,  and  benevolence,  in  -the  reign  of 
David.  The  chiefs,  princes,  and  rulers  offered 
willingly  for  the  temple.  "  And  they  with  whom 
precious  stones  were  found  gave  them  to  the  treas- 
ure of  the  house  of  the  Lord.  .  .  .  Then  the 
people  rejoiced,  for  that  they  offered  willingly, 
because  with  perfect  heart  they  offered  willingly  to 

*  Exod.  XXXV.  29. 


THE   POST-APOSTOLICAL    REVIVALS.  II9 

the  Lord ;  and  David  the  king  also  rejoiced  with 
great  joy."  * 

On  a  subsequent  occasion,  v^hen  the  temple  was 
to  be  repaired,  a  proclamation  was  made,  calling 
for  the  voluntary  contributions  of  the  nation. 
And  it  is  said,  "All  the  people  and  princes  re- 
joiced, and  brought  in  "  f  their  money  as  long  as 
money  was  needed. 

At  the  very  opening  of  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion, the  great  Revival,  under  the  first  impulses  of 
the  Spirit,  which  gave  birth  to  Christianity,  the  love 
of  property  was  cut  up  by  the  roots ;  for  the  dis- 
ciples having  possessions  sold  them,  and  came  and 
laid  them  at  the  apostles'  feet ;  and  they  thence- 
forward had  all  things  in  common. 

The  spirit  of  benevolence  was  quickened  into 
vigorous  action  frequently  during  the  middle  ages. 
We  will  not  judge  men's  motives  too  severely,  but 
will  believe  that  many  a  monastery,  cathedral,  and 
chapel  was  an  expression  of  genuine  love  to  the 
Saviour. 

Sometimes  we  see  this  spirit  moving  spasmodi- 
cally; sometimes  forming  itself  into  a  habit,  and 
exercising  itself  systematically.  It  builds  hos- 
pitals or  refuges  for  various  forms  of  infirmity 
and  want.  Such  characteristic  monuments  of  the 
Christian  religion  now  adorn  every  land  in  which 
the  gospel  has  had  time  to  mould  the  character 
and  habits  of  a  people.     London  is  more  wonder-^ 

*  I  Chron.  xxix.  8,  9.  f  2  Chron.  xxiv.  lo. 


120  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

ful  in  nothing  than  in  the  multitude  and  costliness 
of  these  institutions.  Some  of  them  are  contami- 
nated with  the  mean  selfishness  of  the  old  caste- 
system.  But  even  this  does  not  prevent  the  purity 
of  the  motive  v^hich  founded  "them,  while  it  indi- 
cates the  public  sentiment  of  the  age  of  their 
endowment. 

An  eloquent  orator,  speaking  of  Mohammedan 
Turkey,  said,  "  Point  me  to  the  first  effort  that 
Turkish  barbarism  ever  made,  since  it  encamped 
in  Constantinople,"  to  create  "great  public  benefits. 
Point  me  to  one  single  school  or  hospital  it  has 
ever  pretended  to  help." 

Well  may  the  Christian,  in  every  country  where 
the  gospel  of  Jesus  is  the  controlling  power,  point 
to. its  hospitals  and  houses  of  mercy,  and  say, 
*'  These  are  the  fruits  of  the  gospel." 

Sometimes  this  spirit  of  benevolence  takes  a 
purely  religious  direction,  and  sends  Bibles,  mis- 
sionaries, teachers,  and  tracts  to  those  destitute  of 
the  means  of  religious  culture. 

The  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  witnessed 
the  dawning  of  a  new  era.  The  spirit  of  benevo- 
lence had,  as  already  noticed,  epochs  of  Revival 
from  an  early  period.  But  now  it  began  to  assume 
a  more  broad,  definite,  and  especially  an  organized 
form.  The  Moravians  had  already  felt  the  sacred 
fire  burning  in  their  hearts,  and  merely  organized 
their  whole  Church  into  a  grand  missionary  society, 
'making  beneficence  one  essential  feature  of  piety, 


THE    POST-APOSTOLICAL    REVIVALS.  121 

but,  to  a  wonderful  extent,  imitating  the  Saviour 
in  identifying  themselves  with  fallen  man  in  his 
lowest  condition. 

So,  too,'  Lady  Huntingdon  and  the  noble  band 
around  her,  who  formed  a  living  body  by  the  grave 
of  the  Established  Church  of  England,  had  mani- 
fested this  form  of  Christian  zeal ;  this  excellent 
woman  often  leaving  to  herself  but  one  dress,  and 
expending  half  a  million  dollars  on  her  chapels  and 
preachers. 

But  the  fullest  development  of  organized  benevo- 
lence must  be  traced  to  the  Wesleys,  and  then  to 
the  Baptists  of  England. 

The  spark  from  heaven  fell  on  the  Moravians, 
the  Methodists,  and  a  few  hearts  within  the  pale  of 
the  Baptist  Church.  Carey,  a  humble  artificer, 
felt  the  heaven-descended  inspiration,  and  quickly 
communicated  it  to  kindred  spirits.  Then  began 
the  organization  of  missionary,  Bible,  tract,  and 
other  societies  auxiliary  to  the  Church  of  Christ ; 
or,  rather,  it  was  the  Church  herself  organizing  new 
executive  committees  to  superintend  the  aggressive 
department  of  her  work. 

Through  these  well-conceived  arrangements  she 
is  now  spreading  the  light  of  salvation  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth. 

It  is^  computed,  that,  since  the  beginning  of  this 
century,  two  hundred  million  dollars  have  been  given, 
under  the  impulse  of  Christian  benevolence,  to  make 
the  human  race  acquainted  with  their  Redeemer. 


122  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

To  the  spirit  thus  engendered  by  the  gospel  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  we  owe  the  wonderful  display  of 
generous  sympathy  presented  by  our  citizens 
toward  the  soldiers  defending  our  government  in 
the  late  war. 

At  some  of  the  missionary  stations  the  same 
form  of  Revival  has  been  witnessed  in  most  touch- 
ing manifestations.  For  instance,  in  the  Persian 
mission,  the  Nestorian  converts  had  been  trained  to 
habits  and  principles  of  self-denying  benevolence. 
Early  in  1845  some  mountaineers  came  down  to 
beg  for  clothing  for  their  poor  children.  The 
inquiry  was  then  proposed  to  the  pupils,  "  Who 
will  give  her  own  garments,  and  wear  poorer  ones 
until  she  can  make  others  ?  "  The  responses  were 
many  and  prompt ;  and  she  was  regarded  the  happi- 
est who  gave  the  best  dress ;  some  even  weeping 
that  they  had  nothing  they  could  give. 

On  one  occasion  the  impulse  of  love  came  still 
more  powerfully  upon  this  little  church.  It  was 
on  the  day  of  concerted  prayer.  One  after  another 
of  those  simple-hearted  people  arose,  prefacing  his 
donation  by  some  quaint,  fervent  remark,  showing 
that  an  intelligent  spirit  of  love  for  Christ  and 
men  was  predominant  in  their  hearts.  The  remark 
of  one  was,  "  If  a  man  thrusts  his  hand  into  a  pile 
of  gold,  and  gives  it  to  God,  is  that  a  great  thing 
when  he  has  filled  his  hand  with  the  blood  of  his 
Son,  and  given  it  to  us  ? " 

Before  leaving  this  topic,  let  us  observe  the  con- 


THE    POST-APOSTOLICAL    REVIVALS.  1 23 

firmation  our  examination  thus  far  presents,  of  the 
position  that  the  rehgious  sentiment  of  mankind  is 
progressively  developed.  We  see  that  all  the 
graces  of  the  Spirit  are  not  prominent  in  any  age ; 
that  they  come  to  view  in  groups,  or  singly,  at 
intervals  of  irregular  duration ;  that,  on  the  whole, 
there  is  a  general  progress  or  advance  .toward  the 
perfect  spirit  and  image  of  Christ ;  and,  finally, 
that  there  is  great  room  for  progress,  and  therefore 
for  Revivals  still.  We  pass  now  to  consider  in 
a  general  way  the  genuine  Revivals,  which  no 
human  pen  can  enumerate  or  describe.  A  glance 
at  them  is  all  we  can  attempt.  Let  us  begin  with 
merely  naming  the  Albigenses,  the  Waldenses,  the 
Beghards,  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  Moravi- 
ans of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  "  The  Friends  of 
God"  of  the  sixteenth.  The  times  were  chaotic. 
But  the  Holy  Spirit,  like  Noah's  dove,  found  amid 
the  deluge  of  sin  and  the  wrecks  of  the  Church  a 
few  spots  on  which  he  could  alight.  An  associa- 
tion formed  secretly,  merely  to  escape  the  fangs  of 
the  Inquisition,  spread  rapidly  over  the  Rhenish 
provinces.  They  found  refuge  in  God.  They  had 
eminent  members  in  their  ranks.  Among  these 
were  Tauler,  Nicholas  of  Basle,  the  martyr,  Nicho- 
las of  Strasburg,  and  the  unnamed  author  of  "The- 
ologica  Germanica ; "  a  treatise  which  embodies 
their  sublime  views  and  heavenly  spirit,  and  of 
which  Chevalier  Bunsen  said,  "  I  rank  this  short 
treatise,  with  Luther,  next  to  the  Bible,  but,  un- 


124  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

like  him,  should  place  it  rather  before  than  after 
Augustine.  That  school  of  pious,  learned,  and  pro- 
found rnen,  of  which  this  book  is,  as  it  we^re,  the 
popular  catechism,  was  the  Germanic  counterpart 
of  Romanic  scholasticism,  and  more  than  the  re- 
vival of  that  Latin  theology  which  produced  so 
many  eminent  thinkers,  from  Augustine  its  father, 
to  Thomas  Aquinas,  its  last  great  genius. 

"  The  theology  of  this  school  was  the  first  pro- 
test of  the  Germanic  mind  against  the  Judaism 
and  formalism  of  the  Byzantine  and  mediaeval 
churches,  the  hollowness  of  science  to  which 
scholasticism  had  led,  and  the  rottenness  of  society, 
which  a  pompous  hierarchy  strove  in  vain  to  con- 
ceal, but  had  not  the  power  nor  the  will  to  correct." 

But  prominent  above  all  the  Revivals  of  mod- 
ern history  stands  the  so-called  Reformation  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 

This  movement  was  the  fruit  of  an  impulse 
originating  in  more  hearts  than  one,  and  centuries 
before  Zwingle  or  Calvin  were  born. 

Dr.  Ullmann  remarks,  "  In  one  aspect  it  was  a 
fresh  conception  of  the  faith  and  doctrine  of  the 
gospel,  formed  from  a  central  point,  then  for  the 
first  time  clearly  and  vividly  recognized.  In 
another  aspect,  however,  it  was  also  a  great  fact  in 
the  history  of  the  Church  and  of  mankind,  a  conver- 
sion of  what  before  was  only  known  and  taught, 
into  action  and  reality,  —  a  drama  composed  of 
successive  magnificent  acts.     It  was  only  by  the 


THE    POST-APOSTOLICAL    REVIVALS.  1 25 

union  and  commixture  of  knowledge  w^th  action, 
of  faith  with  practice,  that  the  Reformation  became 
what  it  really  was,  —  a  comprehensive  renovation  of 
the  Christian  life  and  spirit.  For  this  reason  we 
find  the  Reformation  preceded  by  two  classes  of 
men."  We  may  call  them  thinkers  and  actors. 
The  mystics  had  performed  a  great  work.  The 
"  Brethren  of  the  Common  Lot,"  Tauler,  John  Puf- 
fer, John  of  Wesel,  Gerson,  Berenger,  Wickliffe, 
Huss,  Staupitz,  Wittenbach,  and  many  others,  con- 
tributed to  prepare  Zwingle  and  Luther  for  their 
task,  and  the  world  for  their  labors.  Robert  Hall 
remarks,  "The  relation  of  the  people  to  their  rulers 
was  never  explained  on  its  just  principles,  till  the 
transfer  of  superstition  to  civil  power  shocked  the 
commoivsense  of  mankind,  and  awakened  their  in- 
quiries. They  drew  aside  the  veil ;  and,  where  they 
had  been  taught  to  expect  a  mystery,  they  discerned 
a  fraud."  Thus  civil  liberty  sprung  indirectly  from 
this  purely  religious  movement. 

Luther  and  his  fellow-laborers  are  more  gener- 
ally kno\vn  as  expounders  and  defenders  of  doc- 
trines, organizers  of  churches  and  ecclesiastical 
institutions.  But  when  churches  and  synods,  and 
all  ecclesiastical  machinery,  shall  be  laid  aside  for- 
ever as  mere  scaffolding,  when  human  systems 
of  theology  shall  have  been  superseded  by  the  per- 
fect revelations  of  heaven,  then  ^\'ill  remain  the 
other  work  they  accomplished,  now  little  appreci- 
ated by  the  world.     They  were  wise  to  win  souls  ; 


126  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

and  they  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firma- 
ment, and  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever.  That  is 
the  work  v^hich  eternity  Mrill  stamp  with  its  own 
deathless  endurance.  A  large  portion  of  the 
labors  of  Calvin,  Knox,  and  Zwingle  was  expended 
in  guiding  the  lost  to  their  Saviour. 

Wherever  the  light  of  the  blessed  Reformation 
penetrated  with  its  distinct  exhibition  of  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith,  which  Rome  had  so 
long  concealed,  dead  souls  were  brought  to  life, 
sinners  turned  to  the  Lord. 

The  Reformation,  at  first,  was  mainly  a  doctrinal 
conflict ;  yet  as  soon  as  the  fainting  hearts  of 
thousands  felt  the  breath  of  this  glorious  truth, 
salvation  by  grace,  they  revived.  Then  came  that 
highest  form  of  Revivals,  that  spiritual  work  to 
which  the  term  is  popularly  confined.  Very  soon, 
however,  followed  the  declension  from  that  high 
condition,  —  first  into  intellectualism,  then  formal- 
ism and  ecclesiasticism,  and  religious  politics. 

But,  as  a  spiritual  Revival,  the  Reformation  was 
a  magnificent  movement,  splendidly  described  in 
D'Aubigne  s  popular  history  of  it. 

Within  a  century  from  its  origin  the  mighty 
current  had  settled  down  in  its  newly-formed 
channels ;  and  the  great  work  of  personal  awaken- 
ing and  conversion  was  reduced  to  a  more  limited 
scale.  The  Church  then  declined  in  spirit,  in 
some  cases  hardened  in  its  new  mould.  But  it 
never  retrograded  so  far  as  to  restore  the  old  bar- 


THE    POST-APOSTOLICAL    REVIVALS.  1 27 

riers  which  had  obstructed  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
and  the  work  of  his  Spirit. 

Let  us,  then,  glance  at  the  more  limited  quicken- 
ings  which  have  followed  that  great  convulsive 
action  of  the  Providence,  Word,  and  Spirit  of  our 
ascended  Lord. 

The  impulse  transformed  many  who  still  re- 
mained within  the  pale  of  the  Latin  Church.  For 
instance,  men  have  never  beheld  a  purer,  sweeter 
light  than  that  which  beams  forth  from  that  Roman 
Catholic  retreat.  Port  Royal,  the  home  and  sanc- 
tuary of  Pascal,  Arnauld,  Nicole,  De  Sacy,  Tille- 
mont.  La  Mere  Angelique,  and  Jacqueline  Pascal. 

Thus  Vinet  speaks  of  them,  "  Perhaps  there  has 
been,  in  certain  races,  an  illustrious  moment,  a 
single  moment  in  which  the  type  of  the  race 
slightly  elaborated,  having  reached  the  degree  of 
energy  and  perfection  to  which  it  was  destined, 
deposits  on  two  or  three  medallions  its  distinct  and 
strong  imprint,  and  then  is  broken  forever.  Such 
it  appeared  in  Blaise  and  Jacqueline  Pascal,  two 
precious  vases,  which  were  broken  by  the  very 
force  of  truth  and  genius  and  sentiment,  bubbling 
up  as  melted  metal  within  them. 

"  Their  envelope  was  found  to  be  too  frail,  and 
perhaps  every  one  would  have  been,  to  resist  the 
internal  forces.  Blaise  died  at  thirty-nine  ;  Jac- 
queline, at  thirty-six.  To  give  the  world  grand 
and  imperishable  examples,  this  brief  period  suf- 
ficed  them.     We   doubt   if   we   ever   have   found 


128  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

anywhere  a  character  of  man,  or  even  woman, 
more  accomplished  than  that  of  Jacquehne." 

In  1233  a  Cistercian  convent  had  been  founded 
a  few  miles  from  Paris.  This  became  the  seat  of 
these  famous  Port  Royalists, — a  company  of  the 
most  learned  and  godly  men  and  women  then  in 
France.  Their  great  effort  was  to  revive  religion 
in  its  purity,  to  cultivate  the  human  intellect  in  the 
most  thorough  manner.  They  were  crushed  with 
the  Jansenist  party,  by  the  Jesuits ;  but  their  his- 
tory, their  labors,  their  influence,  are  as  enduring 
as  the  nation,  as  the  race. 

We  may  cite  the  cases  of  Dr.  Caesar  Malan,  and 
Merle  D'Aubigne  in  Geneva,  as  illustrating  this 
form  of  Revival,  which  consists  chiefly  in  the 
quickening  of  the  desire  of  personal  holiness,  tak- 
ing on  a  social  but  scarcely  an  aggressive  form. 
The  Puritan  movement  partook  largely  of  this ; 
developing  such  piety  as  that  of  Howe,  Owen  and 
Baxter,  Leighton  and  Bunyan. 

The  first  stages  of  the  Revival  in  Oxford  Uni- 
versity, that  embraced  the  Wesleys  in  its  influence, 
is  another  instance  of  it,  though  it  early  took  on 
the  aggressive  form. 

To  these  may  be  added  the  history  of  "  the  Clap- 
han  Sect,"  as  they  have  been  called ;  embracing  the 
Wilberforces,  Simeons,  Thorntons,  and  Sharpes, — 
men  who  sought,  amid  the  crushing  and  stifling 
formality  of  the  Anglican  Church,  to  escape  to  a 
spot   where   they  might  breathe  the  pure  air  of 


THE    POST-APOSTOLICAL    REVIVALS.  1 29 

a  living  piety,  and,  amid  the  dominant  selfish  poli- 
cies of  the  British  Government,  make  the  interests 
of  the  planter  yield  to  the  higher  demands  of  jus- 
tice and  humanity.  The  "Practical  Christianity" 
written  by  Wilberforce  was  an  index  of  that 
Revival  which  had  made  its  reprisals  within  the 
circle  of  wealth,  culture,  and  fashion. 

But  we  must  be  content  with  a  mere  sketch  of 
any  part  of  our  subject. 

We  must  also  notice  the  great  religious  move- 
ment in  Germany,  nicknamed  Pietism. 

After  Luther's  decease,  came  on  that  declension, 
which  is  so  natural,  that  only  supernatural  influ- 
ence will  ever  prevent  its  recurrence ;  the  human 
heart  being  constantly  exposed  to  a  force  of  gravi- 
tation resembling  that  which  the  body  feels,  —  spirit 
gives  way  to  form,  heart  to  intellect.  The  faith  of 
the  understanding  had  come  to  be  regarded  as  the 
essence  of  piety.    . 

But  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  amidst  the  horrors 
of  the  Thirty- Years'  War,  and  the  deadness  of  a 
backsliding  Church,  had  moved  on  the  heart  of 
one  man,  who  uttered  his  thoughts  in  a  work 
entitled  "  The  Watchman's  Voice."  This  fell  as  a 
spark  of  fire  on  the  heart  of  Gerhardt :  from 
him  the  fire  spread  to  John  Arndt,  —  both  men 
of  eminent  qualities.  But  it  remained  for  Spener 
and  Francke  to  bring  the  Revival  into  existence. 
Their  movement  was  essentially  one  of  spiritual 
life,  to  which  thought  was  subordinate.     So  far  as 


130  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

they  framed  a  theory,  it  may  be  thus  stated : 
Faith  must  precede  and  limit  reason.  Scholastic 
divinity  must  give  place  to  the  direct  and  devout 
study  of  revelation.  Polemic  divinity  must  hold 
an  inferior  place  in  the  studies  of  the  pastor. 
Pagan  philosophy  and  classical  learning  cannot 
lead  to  the  discovery  of  soul-nourishing  truth  :  they 
simply  aid  in  the  utterance  of  it.  Usefulness  must 
be  the  supreme  aim  of  the  theological  student. 

But  Pietism  was  eminently  practical ;  in  this, 
contrasted  with  mysticism.  Boehme  and  Spener 
were  alike  in  the  purity  of  their  hearts,  but  utterly 
unlike  in  action.  Spener,  for  instance,  took  up 
the  catechising  of  children,  and  gave  it  a  new 
character.  He  introduced  a  new  style  of  preach- 
ing, reducing  the  sublime  truths  of  Christianity  to 
the  comprehension  of  peasants,  training  theologi- 
cal students  to  his  own  views  and  course,  and 
introducing  laymen  of  piety,  judgment  and  gifts, 
into  a  course  of  unofficial  preaching. 

The  University  of  Halle  had  been  founded  in 
the  interests  of  spiritual  religion ;  and  it  now 
became  the  fountain  of  a  new  life  to  Germany. 
And  Francke's  Orphan  House  will  ever  stand  a 
refutation  of  the  objection  made  to  its  founder, 
that  he  was  visionary  and  mystical.  Arnold  and 
Peterson  made  many  extravagant  demonstrations, 
we  admit.  But  though  Judas  was  a  traitor,  yet 
Christianity  was  heaven-defended ;  and  Pietism 
had  the  same  origin. 


THE   POST-APOSTOLICAL    REVIVALS.  131 

From  Spener  and  Francke  the  impulse .  went 
forth  over  Germany,  and  reached  as  far  as  Eng- 
land. Conservatives  exclaimed,  "This  work  be- 
longs to  the  Church ; "  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
great  reforms,  in  their  first  stages,  are  always  per- 
sonal, and  not  ecclesiastical. 

Envy,  formalism,  conservatism,  and  ecclesias- 
ticism,  as  in  every  age,  set  themselves  to  over- 
throw this  new  organization ;  but  it  met  at  length 
that  more  formidable  foe,  the  gravitation  of  which 
I  have  spoken.  And  perhaps  we  may  say  that 
every  reform  accomplished  by  man  must  be  self- 
limited  ;  that  no  man  may  glory  in  man  or  institu- 
tion, in  names  or  parties,  but  he  that  glorieth 
may  glory  in  the  Lord  alone. 

Even  Halle  became  rationalistic ;  and  Pietism 
degenerated  into  intellectualism. 

But  we  cannot  leave  the  German  field  without 
an  allusion  to  another  quickening  of  spiritual  life 
there.  Schleiermacher,  in  whom  the  religious 
spirit  had  been  early  developed  among  the  Mora- 
vians, became  the  fountain  of  a  new  life  to  his 
country.  With  a  commanding  intellect,  he  came 
on  the  field  to  combat  the  rationalist  with  weapons 
from  his  own  armory.  His  discourses  on  religion, 
addressed  to  its  despisers,  quickened  thousands 
into  a  new  life. 

Neander's  testimony  I  quote :  "  Schleiermacher 
had  touched  a  note,  which,  in  the  minds  of  youth, 
was  sure  to  send  forth  its  melody  over  the  land. 


T32  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Men  were  led  back  into  the  depth  of  their  hearts, 
to  perceive  here  a  divine  drawing  which  might  lead 
them  beyond  even  that  which  the  author  of  this 
impulse  had  expressed  with  distinct  conscious- 
ness." 

The  Reformation  affected  Scotland,  perhaps, 
more  profoundly  than  any  other  land.  It  raised  up 
a  body  of  preachers  of  eminent  fidelity  and  power. 
At  their  head,  in  many  respects,  stands  John 
Knox;  though  Wishart,  under  whose  ministry 
Knox  was  converted,  was  more  eminent  in  spirit- 
ual labors  than  Knox.  Rutherford,  Gillespie, 
Walsh,  and  many  others,  were  Boanerges. 

There  are  in  the  history  of  the  Scottish  people 
some  scenes  of  the  most  sublime  character,  espe- 
cially in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  Revivals  of 
that  period  resemble  those  of  the  first  and  second 
centuries,  in  which,  to  become  a  convert  was  to 
make  ready  for  the  stake.  There  is  nothing  super- 
ficial or  shallow  in  such  Revivals.  The  Scotch 
were  made  by  them  a  martyr-nation. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  February,  1638, 
Scotland  renewed  the  covenant  with  her  God.  The 
wisest  and  the  best  of  her  sons  and  daughters  were 
assembled  at  Grayfriar's  Church  in  Edinburgh. 
They  filled  the  church  and  the  surrounding  grave- 
yard. "Henderson  opened  the  meeting  with  a  won- 
derful prayer,  in  which  the  dense  multitude  with 
breathless  reverence  and  awe  responded,  as  if  each 
man  felt  himself  alone  in  the  presence  of  the  Hearer 


THE    POST-APOSTOLICAL    REVIVALS.  133 

of  prayer.  After  a  few  remarks  from  the  Earl  of 
Loudon  and  others,  the  venerable  Earl  of  Suther- 
land stepped  forward,  and,  with  throbbing  heart 
and  trembling  hand,  signed  Scotland's  covenant 
with  the  Lord."  From  that  hour  the  breath  of  the 
Lord  came  afresh  upon  the  entire  land.  It  was 
the  banner  erected  for  Jehovah-Jesus,  the  gauntlet 
cast  at  the  feet  of  a  tyrannical  hierarchy  and  a 
persecuting  throne. 

Sobbing  and  triumphant  shouting  told  the  strug- 
gle in  the  hearts  -of  that  multitude.  Some  placed 
after  their  signature  the  significant  words,  "Till 
death ; "  and  some  even  opened  their  veins,  and 
signed  the  covenant  with  their  warm  blood. 

Oh  !  such  days  and  scenes  are  the  redeeming  peri- 
ods of  human  existence,  the  brightest  that  history 
presents.  The  historian  remarks,  ''  Never,  except 
among  God's  peculiar  people,  the  Jews,  did  any 
national  transaction  equal  in  moral  and  religious 
sublimity  that  witnessed  on  this  memorable  day." 
It  was  the  culminating  point  of  a  national  Revival. 

There  had  been  local  quickenings  before  this  day. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  was  that  of  Shotts, 
eight  years  before  this  great  day  of  national  cove- 
nanting. 

According  to  the  usage  of  the  people,  there  was 
a  great  assemblage  of  the  members  of  churches 
for  miles  around  this  village.  The  communion- 
Services  of  Sunday  had  been  so  impressive,  that  the 
people  were  unwilling  to  have  them  closed.     John 


134  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Livingston,  chaplain  of  the  Countess  of  Wigton, 
then  only  twenty-seven  years  old,  v^as  prevailed 
upon,  after  much  solicitation,  to  preach  on  Monday. 
He  passed  the  night  of  Sunday  in  prayer  and  confer- 
ence. Being  alone  in  the  fields,  about  eight  o'clock 
on  Monday  morning  there  came  upon  him  such  mis- 
giving, such  a  sense  of  unworthiness  and  unfitness  to 
speak  before  so  many  aged  and  eminent  ministers 
and  Christians,  that  he  started  to  go  to  a  neighboring 
town.  But  courage  was  given  him  at  that  moment 
when  he  was  almost  out  of  sight  of  the  town. 

He  returned,  and  preached.  His  text  was  in 
Ezek.  xxxvi.  25  :  "Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water 
upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean.  A  new  heart 
will  I  give  you."  He  was  in  that  frame  which 
brings  the  preacher  right  to  the  hearts  of  his  hear- 
ers, manifesting  itself  by  three  signs,  —  loftiness 
of  conception,  self-possession,  and  tender  sympa- 
thy. The  first  elevates,  expands,  and  animates  the 
speaker ;  the  second  makes  him  master  of  his  ve- 
hemence ;  the  third,  while  it  keeps  him  in  living 
contact  with  the  hearers,  so  as  not  to  get  out  of 
their  range  of  thought  and  feeling,  enables  him  to 
seize  on  things  local  and  obvious,  and  even  per- 
sonal, to  make  parables  or  comparisons  which  con- 
vey sublimest  truths  to  minds  of  every  grade. 

Mr.  Livingston  had  what  the  Scotch  called 
"great  enlargement  and  melting  of  heart."  A 
shower  coming  up,  and  causing  the  people  to  put 
on  their  cloaks  and  mantles,  he  seized  the  incident 


THE    POST-APOSTOLICAL    REVIVALS.  1 35 

with  great  effect,  exclaiming,  "  Oh,  if  a  few  drops  of 
rain  from  the  clouds  so  discompose  you,  how  discom- 
posed will  you  be,  how  full  of  horror  and  despair,  if 
God  shall  rain  upon  you  fire  and  brimstone,  as  upon 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  !  "  This  does  not  affect  us  as 
we  now  repeat  it ;  but  we  are  not  at  Shotts  on  that 
day.  The  arrows  of  the  Spirit  are  in  just  such  words, 
uttered  seasonably  and  suitably ;  the  effusions  of  a 
heart  fully  impressed  with  the  truths  revealed  in 
Scripture.  And  feeble  is  the  rhetoric,  and  shallow 
the  philosophy,  that  affect  to  despise  them. 

Mr.  Fleming,  whose  opportunities  of  forming  a 
correct  estimate  were  peculiar,  and  who  was  distin- 
guished for  integrity,  states,  that,  of  the  multitude 
of  divers  ranks  there  assembled,  ''  near  five  hun- 
dred had,  at  that  time,  a  discernible  change  wrought 
on  them,  of  whom  most  proved  living  Christians 
afterward.  It  was  the  sowing  of  a  seed  through 
Clydesdale ;  so  as  many  of  the  most  eminent  Chrisr 
tians  in  that  country  could  date,  either  their  con- 
version, or  some  remarkable  confirmation  of  their 
piety,  from  that  day." 

It  may  be  a  useful  lesson  to  you  as  preachers  of 
the  gospel  to  add  here  a  leaf  from  Livingston's  jour- 
nal. Speaking  of  this  sermon  on  Monday,  he  says, 
"  I  was  led  on,  in  about  an  hour's  time,  in  a  strain 
of  exhortation  and  warning,  with  such  liberty  and 
melting  of  heart  as  never  before.  Some  little  of 
that  stamp  remained  on  Thursday  after,  when  I 
preached  at  Kilmarnock.     But  the  very  Monday 


136  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

following,  preaching  in  Irvine,  I  was  so  deserted, 
that  the  points  I  had  meditated  and  written, 
and  had  fully  in  memory,  left  me.  So  it  pleased 
the  Lord  to  counterbalance  his  dealings,  and  to 
hide  pride  from  man."  His  first  impulse  was 
never  to  preach  again,  at  least  in  Irvine.  But 
Mr.  Dickson  persuaded  him  to  stay,  and,  as  he  ex- 
pressed it,  "get  amends  of  the  Devil."  He  re- 
mained there,  and  preached  with  some  freedom.  I 
would  venture  the  suggestion,  that  nervous  exhaus- 
tion, after  such  a  draft  on  the  sensibilities,  often 
lasts  longer  than  from  Monday  to  Thursday. 

In  1625  a  Revival  commenced  in  Stewartson, 
which,  for  five  years,  spread  its  hallowed  influence 
over  that  section  of  Scotland.  In  1628  a  solemn 
fast  was  observed  by  the  people,  in  which  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  greatly  manifested.  At 
the  same  time  a  Revival  was  experienced  in  the 
north  of  Ireland. 

But  it  was  reserved  to  the  eighteenth  century  to 
begin  the  era  of  Revivals,  which,  we  may  hope, 
will  never  cease,  until  all  prophecy  shall  have  been 
fulfilled,  and  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  have 
become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord. 

In  Great  Britain  and  in  America,  the  spirit  of 
godliness  had  fearfully  declined.  The  complaints 
of  the  few  faithful  ministers  then  living  in  both 
lands  are  painful  to  read,  even  at  this  remote  day. 
Archbishop  Leighton  speaks  of  the  Church  as  a 
fair  carcass   deserted  of  its  spirit.     Isaac  Taylor 


THE    POST-APOSTOLICAL    REVIVALS.  1 37 

says,  that,  when  the  Methodist  movement  began, 
"  The  Anghcan  Church  was  an  ecclesiastical  sys- 
tem, under  which  the  people  of  England  had 
lapsed  into  heathenism,  or  a  state  hardly  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  it." 

Of  Scotland,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robe  declared,  ''  Our 
defection  from  the  Lord,  and  backsliding,  increased 
fast  to  a  dreadful  apostasy.  While  the  govern- 
ment, worship,  and  doctrine  established  in  this 
Church,  were  retained  in  profession,  there  hath 
been  a  universal  corruption  of  life,  reaching  even 
u^ito  ,the  sons  and  daughters  of  God." 

Of  New  England,  Increase  Mather  said,  in  1702, 
"  O  New  England,  New  England  !  tremble,  for  the 
glory  is  going:  it  is  gradually  departing."  In 
1 72 1  he  says,  "  O  degenerate  New  England  !  what 
art  thou  come  to  at  this  day  ?  How  are  those  sins 
become  common  in  thee,  that  once  were  not  so 
much  as  heard  of  in  this  land  ! " 

Out  of  this  darkness  burst  forth  light.  Simul- 
taneously on  this  country,  England,  and  Scotland, 
the  Holy  Spirit  descended  in  his  renewing  power. 
Early  in  the  century  (in  1704),  there  had  been  a 
limited  Revival  of  considerable  power  in  Taunton  in 
this  State;  but  it  was  not  until  nearly  half  the  cen- 
tury had  passed,  that  the  Revivals  assumed  almost 
a  national  character  in  those  three  countries. 

We  shall  enter  into  some  of  the  details  of  these 
Revivals  in  the  biographical  sketches  of  a  future 
lecture. 


SIXTH    LECTURE. 

History  of  Revivals  {continued). 

When  the  Lord  compared  his  kingdom  to  a 
mustard-seed,  he  probably  had  in  view  these  -  three 
features  of  its  history,  —  it  was  always  to  retain  its 
vitality,  and  capacity  of  growth ;  generally  to  be 
growing;  but  that  growth  to  be  constantly  vary- 
ing with  the  soil  and  climate  of  each  period  and 
locality. 

Christianity  is  always  living,  generally  advan- 
cing; yet  its  progress  is  marked  by  very  varied 
manifestations  of  the  power  it  contains,  and  by 
various  degrees  of  rapidity  at  successive  periods 
and  in  different  places.  To  the  eye  of  science,  the 
forest  not  only  retains  its  life  in  winter,  but  is 
actually  growing.  To  the  eye  of  faith,  there  have 
always  been  life  and  advance  in  the  kingdom  of 
God,  even,  for  instance,  when  the  temple  was  a 
smouldering  ruin,  and  Israel  a  captive  in  Pagan 
Babylon  ;  even  when  the  stone  was  set  against  the 
door  of  Jesus'  sepulchre,  sealed  with  Cassar's  sig- 
net, and  watched  by  a  Roman  guard. 

In  our  day,  this  progress  meets  the  eye  of  sense. 

138 


LATER  REVIVALS.  1 39 

We  live  in  the  era  of  visible  advance,  and  therefore 
of  Revivals.  It  had  been  declared,  "When  the 
enemy  cometh  in  like  a  flood,  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  shall  lift  up  a  standard  against  him."  Our 
colonial  troubles,  including  the  French  war,  and 
the  war  that  secured  our  independence,  had  dis- 
tracted the  people's  minds,  accustomed  them  to  a 
disregard  of  the  sabbath,  and  interrupted  the  regu- 
lar ministrations  of  the  pulpit.  Then  rolled  in  the 
tide  of  scepticism  from  France,  the  more  easily 
yielded  to  by  our  people,  because  they  had  just 
formed  a  special  affection  for  the  country  of  La 
Fayette.  Voltaire  and  Volney  and  Paine  were 
welcomed  by  leading  minds  as  emancipators  from 
religious  tyranny,  the  proper  sequel'  of  political 
emancipation.  As  Thomas  Jefferson  rose  in  the 
public  estimation,  infidelity  advanced  with  rapid 
strides  under  his  powerful  patronage.  Secret 
societies  of  the  Illuminati  were  at  work,  propagat- 
ing the  writings  of  European  sceptics. 

The  sky  was  growing  black.  To  some  it  seemed 
as  if  the  eternal  night  was  settling  down  upon  the 
world. 

But  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  lifted  up  a  standard  ; 
and  around  it  rallied  the  noblest  spirits  of  the  land. 
Edwards  the  younger,  Bellamy,  Backus,  Strong, 
Porter,  Hooker,  Dwight,  Hyde,  Mason,  Davis, 
Livingston,  Waddell,  the  Tennents,  were  prominent 
standard-bearers.  In  Yale  College,  President 
Dwight,  by  the  grace  of  God,  turned  the  tide  of 


I40  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

battle.  Scepticism  shrank  back  into  its  conceal- 
ment, under  his  luminous  and  eloquent  attacks. 
His  sermons,  powerful  then,  are  indeed  not  adapted 
to  the  phases  infidelity  has  now  assumed.  Each 
age  must  forge  its  own  weapons,  in  part  at 
least. 

From  about  A.D.  1740  to  the  present  day,  the 
Revivals  have  been  mainly,  though  not  exclusively, 
distinguished  as  seasons  of  conversion.  The 
Church,  from  the  days  of  President  Edwards,  has 
been  awaking  to  a  higher  appreciation  of  her 
responsibility,  and  her  privilege  to  lead  men  to 
Christ,  and  to  help  them  find  the  path  to  eternal 
life.  Probably  doctrinal  views  have  been  also  so 
far  modified  by  the  comparison  of  thoughts  in  our 
various  religious  periodicals  as  to  have  removed 
that  class  of  obstacles  to  conversion  which  the  pul- 
pit once  presented.  And  certainly  there  is  an 
advance  in  those  qualities  of  preaching  which  have 
most  direct  relation  to  this  result. 

During  the  last  century,  at  the  period  of  that 
great  work  of  infinite  grace  in  these  colonies,  while 
the  admiring  attention  of  Christians  in  Europe  was 
turned  to  this  country,  in  Scotland  the  same  grace 
was  manifested.  "  Perhaps,"  Dr.  Humphrey  re- 
marks, "no  work  in  Scotland  has  borne  richer 
fruits  than  this  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  which 
McCulloch,  Whitefield,  Robe,  Bonar,  and  Hamilton 
bore  so  conspicuous  a  part."  In  England  we  meet 
the  remarkable  movement  in  the  little   band    of 


LATER    REVIVALS.  I4I 

Oxford  students,  the  beginning  of  one  of  the  most 
important  series  of  events  in  our  age  of  wonders. 

When  the  Wesleys  and  Whitefield  left  their 
cloistered  retreat,  and  entered  the  field,  joined  by 
Fletcher,  Romaine,  Berridge,  Madan,  and  kindred 
spirits,  Britain  felt  that  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord 
was  coming  among  her  people  in  power  and  great 
glory.  The  low  and  the  lofty  bowed  together 
before  the  King  of  kings,  the  Saviour  of  men,  — 
here  the  colliers  of  Kingwood ;  there  the  Countess 
of  Huntington,  the  Lady  Chesterfield. 

But  the  range  of  these  several  Revivals  was 
limited ;  for,  during  this  brilliant  period,  the  rest  of 
the  civilized  world  was  slumbering  in  spiritual  tor- 
por. Dark  night  had  settled  over  the  entire  conti- 
nent, with  here  and  there  a  glimmering  spark,  as 
among  the  Pietists  and  the  Moravians. 

In  the  present  century,  Revivals  have  been 
experienced  in  Russia,  Sweden,  in  fact  every  Prot- 
estant country  of  the  world,  but  nowhere,  as  in 
America,  so  free,  so  extensive  in  their  influence, 
so  powerful  in  moulding  the  national  character. 
Almost  every  State  has  been  visited  with  the 
quickening  influences  of  the  holy  Spirit  in  the  form 
of  Revival. 

In  the  Sandwich  Islands,  Africa,  India,  Persia, 
Syria,  Asia  Minor,  similar  blessings  have  been 
enjoyed. 

About  A.D.  1 8 12  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nettleton  com- 
menced   his    remarkable   course  as  an  evangelist 


142  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

and  a  laborer  in  Revivals ;  in  which  service  he  con- 
tinued with  eminent  success  for  many  years.  ^  He 
was  distinguislied  for  his  plain,  earnest  dealing 
with  the  human  heart,  liis  liumble  dependence  on 
God,  and  his  ingenious  invention  of  measures  to 
make  the  truth  reach  the  will,  and  bring  the  reluc- 
tant sinner  to  a  right  decision.  About  the  year 
1825  the  Rev.  Mr.  Finney  commenced  his  remark- 
able labors,  and  for  forty  years  has  continued  to 
preach  in  Revivals,-  having,  perhaps,  been  instru- 
mental of  more  conversions  than  any  man  since 
Mr.  Whitefield's  day. 

Other  evangelists  have  labored  with  various 
^degrees  of  success  in  Britain  and  America. 

The  years  1840,  1857,  and  1865  have  been  fa- 
vored by  glorious  influences  of  God's  Spirit  in  our 
land ;  and  1859  was  a  year  of  grace  to  Ireland. 

In  1839  and  1840  the  labors  of  the  Rev.  Jacob 
Knapp  were  crowned  with  signal  blessings  in 
Baltimore,  New  Haven,  Hartford,  and  Boston. 
Complaints  were  heard  of  the  superficialness  of 
conversions  under 'his  ministry.  But  following 
him  as  I  did,  in  1839  and  1840,  in  Baltimore,  New 
Haven,  and  Hartford,  I  am  able  to  testify,  that,  in 
all  those  places,  men's  religious  sensibilities  had 
been  deeply  moved.  I  found  the  ground  ploughed 
for  the  seed,  and  the  harvest  ripe  for  the  sickle. 

In  1837  men's  minds  had  been  compelled  to 
recognize  the  vanity  of  mere  earthly  hopes.  The 
enormous  annihilation  of  property  by  the  fire  of 


LATER    REVIVALS.  1 43 

1835  in  New  York  hastened  on  the  financial  crisis, 
which  in  1837  rnade  men  stand  aghast,  as  if  the 
earth  were  an  island  of  ice  in  mid-ocean,  melting 
from  beneath  their  feet.  This  convulsion  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  turning 
their  attention  to  higher  interests  ;  and  in  1840  the 
sacred  wave  swept  over  large  sections  of  the  land. 

In  1857  occurred  another  financial  convulsion. 
A  humble  believer  in  New  York  opened  a  prayer- 
meeting  for  men  in  trade,  at  noon.  There  the 
fire  burst  forth,  and  spread  in  every  direction. 
Churches  were  daily  filled  with  praying  men  who 
had  not  been  familiar  with  such  places  and  services. 
The  Free  Academy,  a  theatre,  rooms  in  ware- 
houses and  hotels,  were  daily  scenes  of  humble 
praise  and  prayer.  Denominational  walls  crumbled 
to  the  earth  before  the  heaven-descended  impulse. 
Philadelphia,  Boston,  Cincinnati,  and  other  large 
towns,  shared  the  blessing.  The  Janes  Hall 
prayer-meeting  in  Philadelphia  will  forever  remain 
a  monument  on  the  page  of  history  of  the  power 
of  our  exalted  Redeemer,  who  promised  to  send 
from  his  throne  the  spirit  of  conviction,  of  faith,  of 
praise  and  prayer.  Secular  papers  reported  daily 
the  triumphs  of  Zion's  King. 

The  Church  of  Christ  was  greatly  strengthened 
by  this  work  of  the  Spirit. 

In  1857  a  very  extraordinary  convention  was 
held  in  Pittsburg,  —  a  convention  on  Revivals.  It 
continued  in  session  three  days  —  considering  the 


144  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

means,  the  hinderance,  the  encouragements,  —  in 
an  earnest,  humble,  and  prayerful  spirit. 

The  convention,  by  a  circular,  recommended  the 
preaching  on  this  subject  by  all  pastors  on  the 
first  Sunday  in  January,  the  frequent  conversing 
of  believers  on  the  topic,  personal  visitation,  and 
much  special  prayer.  This  advice  was  extensively 
followed,  and  the  Thursday  following  that  Sunday 
devoted  to  prayer.  Dr.  Prime  says,  that,  as  a 
result,  ''  the  public  mind  v^as  thoroughly  aroused." 

We  turn  now  to  the  Revival  in  Ireland.  Hu- 
manly speaking,  the  hope  of  that  unhappy  country 
is  in  the  inhabitants  of  the  northern  counties, 
popularly  known  as  the  Scotch-Irish,  because 
descended  from  English  and  Scotch  Protestants. 
They  have  a  pure  gospel,  and  an  open  door  for  it. 

This  work  was  not  sudden  in  its  origin.  Its 
beginnings  can  be  traced  back  many  years.  But  it 
assumed  a  definite  form  under  the  labors  of  four 
young  men  living  remotely  from  each  other,  but 
meeting  in  a  central  schoolhouse  for  conference 
and  prayer.  There  the  kingdom  of  God  began  to 
come  in  power;  reaching  Belfast,  the  counties 
Down,  Derry,  Tyrone,  Armaugh,  Monaghan,  and 
Cavan.  It  is  said  that  the  Revival  penetrated 
with  much  power  into  the  Roman  Church,  produ- 
cing many  noble  specimens  of  Christian  steadfast- 
ness ;  converts  who  proved,  amid  severe  trials  of 
their  faith,  that  they  had  found  in  Christ  the  Rock 
of  salvation. 


LATER    REVIVALS.  1 45 

Prof.  Gibson  remarks,  that  it  closely  resembled 
the  Revival  in  Jerusalem  in  these  features :  *'  the 
converts  held  fast  their  profession ;  were  steadfast 
in  doctrine,  continuing  in  fellowship ;  delighting  in 
breaking  the  symbolic  bread,  continuing  instant 
in  prayer ;  fear  falling  on  every  soul ;  oneness  of 
interest." 

He  remarks,  "  Till  the  Revival  came,  we  had  no 
adequate  conception  of  such  a  social  state  as  is 
described  by  Luke  :  '  And  they,  continuing  daily 
with  one  accord  in  the  temple,  and  breaking  bread 
from  house  to  house,  did  eat  their  meat  with  glad- 
ness and  singleness  of  heart,  praising  God,  and 
having  favor  with  all  the  people.'  *  But  we  can 
now  in  some  measure  understand  it.  The  difficul- 
ty now  is,  not  to  bring  the  people  to  the  sanctuary, 
but  to  induce  them  to  retire  from  its  cherished  pre- 
cincts;  an  abounding  and  pervasive  joy  manifest- 
ing itself  in  open-hearted  hospitality,  and  welcome 
given  to  the  brethren  in  Christ ;  the  very  counte- 
nance irradiated  as  by  a  beam  of  heavenly  glory  ; 
the  every-day  life  a  psalm  of  praise ;  and  the  adorn- 
ing of  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  so  palpable 
and  attractive  as  to  win  all  hearts,  constraining 
even  the  impenitent  to  accord  the  tribute  of  es- 
teem and  admiration.  These  are  the  indications 
of  a  higher  tone  and  a  holier  brotherhood  than 
have  been  generally  exemplified  in  the  Church." 

England  has  been  favored  with  limited  awaken- 

*  Acts  ii.  46,  47. 
13 


146  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

ings  within  the  century.  Remarkable  men  have 
been  raised  up,  whose  labors  have  been  crowned 
with  great  success.  And  yet  the  manifestations 
of  divine  power  have  been  much  more  limited  than 
in  this  country,  and  in  connection  with  the  labors  of 
the  Methodists,  than  in  the  last  century.  In  many 
portions  of  the  Continent,  there  have  been  awaken- 
ings of  religious  sentiment ;  and  especially  that  in 
Germany,  resulting  in  introducing  Baptist  churches 
there.  In  France,  too,  there  have  been  religious 
movements  of  deep  interest,  of  which  this  is  one  re- 
sult :  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  there 
was  but  one  evangelical  preacher  in  Paris,  where 
now  th'ere  are  many.  The  work  of  grace  began 
in  a  southern  department,  and  at  length  reached 
the  capital.  To-day  there  are,  perhaps,  a  thou- 
sand preachers  of  the  pure  gospel  in  the  empire ; 
and  the  evangelical  churches  are  carrying  forward 
a  grand  system  of  home-mission  work. 

Among  the  blessed  effects  of  the  Revival  in 
Great  Britain  in  1792,  we  may  notice  as  prominent 
the  impulse  given  to  the  brothers  Haldane  of 
Scotland.  Robert  sold  his  estate  for  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  income  from 
this  was  thirty  thousand  dollars,  of  which  he  spent 
two  thousand  dollars  on  himself,  and  twenty-eight 
thousand  dollars  in  the  work  of  his  Master.  The 
brothers  labored  in  Great  Britain  with  unwearied 
zeal,  proclaiming  Christ  from  place  to  place.  And 
in  Geneva,  Switzerland,  they  gave  a  new  character 


LATER   REVIVALS. 


Al 


to  the  theological  school  under  the  instruction  of 
Merle  d' Aubigne.  And  to  their  labors,  under  God, 
Caesar  Malan,  and  other  eminent  ministers  of  the 
gospel  in  the  Swiss  Church,  owe  their  conversion. 

In  Italy  a  work  of  great  importance  has  fol- 
lowed the  political  revolution.  The  Revival  was 
modified  by  the  peculiar  character  and  circum- 
stances of  the  people;  but  it  has  moulded  thou- 
sands into  the  image  of  Christ,  and  secured  the 
formation  of  evangelical  churches  in  every  part  of 
that  beautiful  land  from  which  the  tyranny  of  the 
pope  has  been  banished. 

This  superficial  sketch  of  these  operations  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  our  world  would  hardly  be  com- 
plete, even  as  a  sketch,  did  we  omit  to  notice 
another  feature  of  them. 

They  are  connected  in  America  intimately  with 
educational  institutions,  as  nowhere  else  in  the 
world.  Indeed,  it  is  the  glory  of  our  schools,  that 
God  has  so  recognized  the  purposes  of  our  fathers 
in  establishing  the  system  of  public  education. 
Pro  Christo  et  ecclesia  is  the  spirit  of  our  whole 
educational  system  as  received  from  them.  And 
God  has  accepted  the  offering.  His  seal  is 
upon  our  colleges,  academies,  and  theological 
schools.  It  has  been  well  remarked  concerning 
them,  "  There  are  very  few  churches  in  which  Re- 
vivals and  conversions  have  been  so  frequent  and 
so  numerous  :  there  are  few  communities  in  which 
so  large  a  proportion  of  the  population,  especially 


148  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

of  the  young  men,  are  professors  of  religion  as  in 
the  colleges  of  New  England  and  the  Northern 
States." 

Here  is  a  tabular  statement  of  Revivals  :  — 

Yale  36,  resulting  In  at  least  1,200  conversions. 

Dartmouth    9,         "  "         "       250  " 

Middlebury  12, 
Amherst       12,         "  "         "       350  " 

And  thus  we  might  run  through  the  history  of 
our  colleges,  and  find  striking  evidence  of  God's 
special  blessings  on  them.  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary 
has  never  passed  a  year  without  a  Revival.  Who 
can  compute  the  result  and  the  effect  of  this  on 
the  history  of  our  country  ?  Will  it  not  power- 
fully affect  the  national  character  and  its  influence 
on  the  world  ? 

Among  these  converts  are  many  who  have  occu- 
pied the  highest  positions  in  our  churches  and  the 
missionary  field. 

These  seasons  of  divine  visitation  have  extended 
their  influence  through  the  intervening  periods 
that  separated  them,  and  have  given  to  our  schools 
and  colleges  a  healthful  tone.  In  a  word,  it  has 
pleased  the  God  of  all  grace,  by  means  of  Revivals 
in  these  institutions,  to  secure,  to  an  extent  no- 
where else  known,  a  sanctified  intellect  to  guide 
the  public  affairs,  and  form  the  character  of  the 
nation. 

In    Amherst  College,  as   an    example,  of  four 


LATER    REVIVALS.  1 49 

hundred  and  thirty-five  who  have  become  preachers 
of  the  gospel,  one  hundred  had  been  converted  in 
college.  About  one-fourth  of  the  alumni  of  Wil- 
liams College,  who  entered  the  pastoral  office 
during  a  period  of  twenty-five  years,  were  con- 
verted in  college.  The  same  is  true  of  Dartmouth 
College. 

Here,  then,  is  the  glory  of  these  periods  of 
religious  transformation  and  progress,  that,  in  so 
many  cases,  they  are  an  emerging  from  darkness 
and  spiritual  torpor,  a  return  of  the  Church  from 
more  than  Babylonish  captivity.  They  are  the 
quickening  buds  of  spring  ripening  into  bloom- 
ing, glorious  summer,  followed  by  the  rich,  fruitful 
autumn  of  the  Church's  years  and  centuries. 

But  we  may  not  leave  this  historical  sketch 
without  distinctly  remarking,  that  our  day  is  char- 
acterized by  a  Revival  of  peculiar  features.  It  is 
peculiar  in  the  breadth  of  the  field  it  occupies, 
the  progressive  character  it  assumes,  the  class  of 
minds  it  most  deeply  affects,  and  the  means  by 
which  it  is  promoted.  It  is  not  a  quickening  of  a 
church  or  a  town,  a  state  or  a  nation ;  it  is  not  a 
quickening  of  personal  piety ;  it  does  not  directly 
secure  a  single  conversion  to  God :  but  it  is  a 
Revival,  for  it  comes  from  the  action  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  upon  both  the  disciples  and  the  enemies  of 
Christ,  affecting  mainly  only  the  earnest  thinkers 
in  each  class. 

It   has  been    denominated    ''the   Christological 


150  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Revival."  It  is  a  doctrinal  quickening.  The  arch- 
enemy has  discovered,  that,  so  long  as  men  retain 
their  confidence  in  Christ,  his  own  cause  cannot 
so  far  prevail.  The  efforts  of  his  servants  are 
accordingly  directed  to  destroy  the  belief  in  the 
participation,  by  the  Son,  in  the  essence  of  the 
Godhead.  Prof.  H.  B.  Smith  says,  "The  v^hole 
Christian  and  even  anti-Christian  literature  of 
Germany,  France,  England,  and  America,  is  teem- 
ing Mrith  volumes  bearing  upon  this  point.  The 
sum  and  substance  of  the  main  theological  inves- 
tigations in  Germany  may  be  said  to  consist  in 
denying  Christ  the  place  assigned  him  by  the 
Church.  The  problems  of  thought,  of  faith,  of 
history,  of  speculation,  are  gathered  up  into  the 
dilemma,  —  Christ,  or  something  else."  He  cites 
as  prominent  in  this  great  movement  of  the  human 
mind,  "  Ecce  Homo,"  ''  Ecce  Deus,"  "  Christ  and 
Christendom,"  "Liddon's  Lectures;"  and  I  know- 
not  why  he  omits  to  say  Strauss  and  Renan.  He 
remarks,  that  "truth  was  never,  in  its  living  reality, 
more  earnestly  sought.  Metaphysical  theology  is 
indeed  less  regarded ;  merely  critical  and  deistic 
theories  have  lost  their  controlling  power  ;  but  the 
real,  living,  essential  principles  of  the  Christian 
faith  were  never  more  deeply  loved  or  more  thor- 
oughly pondered." 

This    Revival,    I    have    said,   is  peculiar  in    its 
extent  and  its  duration,  embracing  the  thinkers  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  growing  in  power  from 
13* 


LATER    REVIVALS.  151 

year  to  year,  and,  if  it  continues  its  advance,  will 
probably  usher  in  a  Revival  in  the  form  of  personal 
transformations  of  character  such  as  the  world  has 
never  witnessed.  All  these  intellectual  struggles, 
these  profound  researches  into  the  mine  of  revela- 
tion, this  continued,  intense  contemplation  of  the 
glorious  Redeemer  by  the  leading  minds  of  the 
world,  certainly  foreshadows  great  events. 

Nor  can  we  leave  this  glance  at  the  history  of 
Revivals  without  taking  you  to  a  still  different 
point  of  view,  — the  borders  of  a  land,  which,  while 
we  dare  not  cross  its  frontier,  ever  holds  us  gazing, 
questioning,  and  wondering.  The  present  state 
of  the  Jewish  mind  is  deeply  interesting.  Hope 
deferred,  and  accumulating  evidence  that  he  who 
was  born  in  Bethlehem-Ephratah  is  the  Messiah, 
are  awaking  portions  of  that  degenerate  race 
from  the  torpor  of  eighteen  centuries.  But  there 
are,  from  age  to  age,  some  wonderful  movements 
in  the  Pagan  world.  When  the  word  of  God 
affirms  that  all  men  are  under  the  curse  and  the 
power  of  sin,  and  that  faith  in  Christ  is  the  only 
way  of  emancipation,  we  infer  that  there  can 
be  no  true  Revival  wherever  that  Word  is  not 
found.  And  yet  when  we  read  the  history  of 
Socrates,  and  observe  that  his  life  was  consecrated, 
just  as  that  of  Paul,  to  the  moral  improvement  of 
mankind,  with  the  most  profound  humility  and 
self-renunciation ;  and  at  length  conquering  death, 
not  by  the  Stoic's  proud  insensibility  to  pain  and 


152  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

privation,  but  by  a  moral  victory ;  and  when  we 
see  what  a  spiritual  quickening  his  life,  labors,  and 
martyrdom  produced  in  others,  we  must  confess 
our  inability  to  name  it.  It  was  not  ?l  Revival, 
because,  while  it  was  pure  and  genuine  in  both 
spirit  and  aim,  it  lacked  the  moral  impulses  and 
intellectual  elements  which  the  gospel  supplies. 


In  this  historical  sketch  some  biographical  pas- 
sages have  been  introduced  as  a  part  of  the  narra- 
tive. We  will  now  select  the  names  of  a  few  great 
leaders  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  call  your 
attention  to  the  lessons  which  their  lives  furnish 
on  the  great  topic  we  are  studying.  Whatever 
repetition  it  may  cause  of  the  incidents  before 
stated  will  not  hinder,  but  may  aid,  our  acquaint- 
ance with  the  subject. 

These  men  may  be  ranked  in  two  classes  in 
reference  to  their  relations  to  Revivals.  Every 
case  of  spiritual  quickening  was  caused  by  a  divine 
influence  on  the  mind,  through  the  pure  doctrines 
of  the  Word.  But  some  men  are  quickened  in  the 
direction  of  sentiment ;  while  others  are  turned  to 
investigation,  and  some  to  preaching,  —  "  diversity 
of  operations,  but  one  Spirit."  As  Ullmann  re- 
marks in  regard  to  the  Reformation,  "  Unless 
founded  upon  doctrines  genuinely  Christian,  derived 
from  a  legitimate  source,  and  embraced  with  deep 
and  experimental  conviction,   or,  in   other  words, 


REVIVALISTS   WITHOUT   REVIVALS.  1 53 

Upon  a  new  and  purified  faith,  such  a  drama  could 
have  had  no  true  significance,  taken  no  certain  hold, 
and  must  have  passed  fruitless  away.  On  the  other 
hand,  unless  faith  and  doctrine  had  been  immedi- 
ately carried  out  into  action  and  reality,  both  of 
these  must  have  continued  as  before,  confined 
chiefly  to  the  domain  of  sentiment,  or  the  school ; 
and  no  church  reform,  reaching  the  people,  would 
have  ensued." 

Therefore,  he  argues,  a  set  of  men  was  needed 
to  work  out,  in  tranquillity  and  obscurity,  the  great 
principles  for  which  the  reformers  were  to  con- 
tend, even  unto  blood,  —  comparatively  few,  but 
these  indispensable.  A  thousand  men  construct  a 
railway  :  a  thousand  millions  may  trayel  on  it.  We, 
accordingly,  shall  place  the  Revivalists  in  two 
classes  ;  glancing  at  the  history  and  character  of 
the  greater  portion,  and  dwelling  more  minutely 
upon  a  few. 

Revivalists  without  Revivals. 

By  the  practical  men  alone,  it  has  been  well  ob- 
served, the  Reformation  never  could  have  been 
achieved,  for  two  reasons.  The  reformer  and  the 
practical  Revivalist  must,  in  the  first  place,  him- 
self be  moulded  for  his  work  by  some  laborer  pre- 
ceding him ;  and  then,  also,  he  must  find  other 
minds  prepared  by  the  same  agency,  even  though 
to  a  more  limited  degree,  to  appreciate  and  appro- 
priate his  labors. 


154  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

There  must  be,  for  the  mighty  conflicts  with 
Satan,  one  class  who  dig  in  the  mines,  and  forge 
the  weapons,  as  well  as  another  class  who  put  on 
the  armor,  and  use  it.  We  are  now  searching  out 
the  former.  In  other  words,  there  have  been  men 
of  study,  and  men  of  deeds,  in  this  work  of  recov- 
ering our  world  to  God  :  sometimes  both  combined 
in  one ;  more  frequently  either  department  has 
been  sufficient  for  the  energies  of  any  one  man. 

There  is,  indeed,  a  difficulty  in  attempting  to  as- 
sign the  preparatory  work  of  Revivals  to  individu- 
als. Only  the  omniscient  eye  has  traced  the  path 
of  many  a  miner,  digging  amid  darkness  and  soli- 
tude, in  the  deep  hiding-places  of  truth,  to  furnish 
the  material  for  the  weapons  of  the  champions 
who  afterward  appear  full-armed  on  the  battle- 
field. When  the  Lord  said  to  his  disciples, 
"  Other  men  have  labored,  and  ye  are  entered  into 
their  labors,"  his  thought  embraced  all  that  noble 
class,  whether  known  or  unknown  to  fame. 

All  we  can  now  attempt  is  to  cheer  our  hearts 
by  calling  up  the  memories  of  a  few  of  them, 
and  paying  them  our  poor  but  cordial  tribute  of 
honor  and  thankfulness  ;  perhaps  inducing  others 
to  pursue  the  subject,  and  enter  a  field  which 
will  amply  repay  the  most  assiduous  cultivation. 
According,  then,  to  our  classification,  which  is  but 
approximate,  we  first  notice  the  men  whose  influ- 
ence was  effective  in  producing  Revivals  which 
they  themselves  never  witnessed,  including,  — 


REVIVALISTS    WITHOUT    REVIVALS.  155 

1.  The  Old-Testament  Prophets  generally.  — 
Their  writings  are  the  earthly  fountain,  or  rather 
channel,  of  all  heavenly  grace  and  impulse.  And 
yet  few  of  them  ever  witnessed  a  Revival. 

2.  The  Christian  Fathers.  —  They  generally  car- 
ried on  earnest  discussions,  spread  the  influence  of 
the  gospel ;  but,  on  the  whole,  the  Church  was 
declining  under  their  labors.  Individuals  were 
converted ;  missionaries  were  successful ;  councils 
were  convened  about  doctrines  and  rites ;  empires 
were  moved :  but  there  was,  with  a  few  exceptions 
to  be  noticed  hereafter,  in  all  this  no  general  Revi- 
val, no  local  Revival,  no  rapid  and  general  transla- 
tion from  a  lower  to  a  higher  plane  of  Christian 
life. 

From  that  turbid  sea  called  the  middle  ages 
rise  lofty  mountain-peaks,  which  catch  the  beams 
of  the  rising  sun.  Prominent  among  them  we 
may  name  John  Wickliffe,  John  of  Wesel,  and  John 
of  Goch,  John  de  Gorson,  Cornelius  Grapheus, 
Hans  Boheim,  and  Staupitz,  whose  labors  and 
prayers  prepared  the  way  of  other  men,  without 
producing  on  their  own  generation  any  positive 
transition  or  revolution. 

Since  the  Reformation,  thousands  of  illustrious 
men  have  labored,  yea,  and  some  noble  women,  in 
this  same  direction,  who  yet  produced  no  results 
that  we  would  designate  as  Revivals  of  religion. 
Eminent  among  these  are  the  Pietists,  the  Jansen- 
ists,  especially  the  Port-Royalists,  and  the  martyrs 
of  Queen  Mary  and  Laud. 


156  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

We  group  here  all  the  struggles  against  the 
usurpations  of  Rome  ;  her  false  doctrines,  and  un- 
scriptural  practices ;  the  labors  of  the  British 
reformers  ;  as  Ullmann  remarks,  "  The  writings  of 
the  biblical  and  sound  mystical  divines  of  Ger- 
many and  the  Netherlands  in  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries,  from  that  school  of  humble, 
scriptural,  experimental  theologians,  of  v^hich  the 
calm  and  contemplative  Staupitz  was  to  Luther, 
and  the  noble  Wittenbach  to  Zwingle,  the  proxi- 
mate representatives.  If,  too,  we  inquire  from 
what  quarter  emanated  those  influences  of  Chris- 
tian intelligence  and  polite  learning,  which  during 
the  fifteenth  century,  in  ever-widening  circles,  and 
increasing  degrees,  crept  silently  and  impercepti- 
bly through  the  various  classes  of  the  people,  and 
rendered  them  susceptible  of  the  words  and  acts 
of  the  reformers,  we  find  ourselves  again  directed 
to  those  modest  men,  who,  in  narrower  spheres, 
and  often  almost  unobserved,  employed  themselves 
in  educating,  training,  and  quickening  those  around 
them." 

Luther  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to  John  of 
Wesel,  to  Tauler,  to  the  Germania  Theologica,  and, 
above  all,  to  Staupitz.  It  is  easy  to  see  in  the  doc- 
trines and  labors  of  men  preceding  the  Reforma- 
tion the  seed  that  bore  such  glorious  fruit.  ''John 
of  Goch,  born  at  the  beginning  of.  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, showed  his  age  the  need  of  reformation  as 
respects  the  general  spirit  of  the  Church  inwardly." 


REVIVALISTS    WITHOUT    REVIVALS.  157 

John  of  Wesel  showed  the  same  thing  in  reference 
to  ecclesiastical  abuses.  In  this  they  had  been 
preceded,  more  or  less  definitely,  by  such  men  as 
Dunstan  (Abbot  of  Glastonbury),  Cerularius,  Be- 
renger,  Arnold  of  Brescia,  the  Waldenses,  Milicy 
(Archdeacon  of  Prague),  Matthias  of  Jannon,  Nicho- 
las de  Clemanges. 

If  we  should  begin  to  mention  the  writers  who 
came  after  the  Reformation,  and  contributed  to 
subsequent  Revivals,  we  should  make  a  long  cata- 
logue. Perhaps  the  most  extensively  circulated, 
after  the  writings  of  A  Kempis,  are  the  practical 
works  of  British  and  American  writers.  Baxter, 
Law,  Bunyan,  Alleine,  Doddridge,  Leighton,  Ed- 
wards, brought  the  truths  of  the  gospel  home  to 
the  hearts  of  men,  directly  and  forcibly ;  while  the 
eminent  theologians  of  the  evangelical  bodies 
delivered  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  from  the 
encumbrances  that  had  so  long  muffled  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit. 

Perhaps  no  books  have  contributed  more  to 
advance  the  piety  of  Britain  and  America  for  a 
century,  or,  rather,  to  bring  men  to  the  first  exer- 
cises of  the  Christian  life,  than  Alleine's  Alarm, 
Baxter's  Call,  and  Doddridge's  Rise  and  Progress ; 
all  of  them  now,  however,  to  a  great  extent,  dis- 
placed by  works  more  in  the  present  current  of 
religious  thought,  written,  probably,  as  these  men 
would  have  written  if  living  in  our  day. 

But  we  are  now  to  select  two  of  these  laborers, 
14 


158  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

who  have  contributed,  in  a  large  degree,  to  pro- 
duce the  new  advances  of  the  Church,  in  which 
they  themselves  had  no  more  direct  participation. 
The  first  is, 

JOHN    TAULER. 

Born  of  wealthy  parents  in  Strasburg,  in  1290, 
he  became  a  Dominican  monk,  dying  in  1361.  He 
has  been  called  the  representative  of  sentimental 
mysticism,  as  Staupitz,  of  ^practical  mysticism. 
We  select  these  two  laborers  in  view  of  their  rela- 
tions to  the  great  Reformation,  and  of  its  relation 
to  the  special  form  of  Revivals  in  our  age. 

After  the  first  three  Christian  centuries  of  life 
and  progress,  the  kingdom  of  God,  in  the  Chris- 
tian form,  began  to  yield  before  the  pressure  of 
the  mighty  forces  which  were  resisting  it.  And 
for  twelve  hundred  years  there  was  a  suspension 
of  that  power  which  enlists  a  quickened  Church 
to  labor  successfully  for  the  conversion  of  sinners. 
Then  came  the  sacred  impulse  from  heaven,  which 
quickened  at  once  the  intellect  of  the  civilized 
world  and  the  religious  sensibility  of  millions. 

The  Reformation  sustains  to  our  Revivals  these 
relations  :  it  recovered  to  the  Church  the  doctrines 
indispensable  for  securing  conversion  ;  it  removed 
the  obstacles  which  unspiritual  ecclesiasticism  ever 
presents  to  truly  spiritual  movements ;  it  gave 
society  an  impulse  which  at  once  diffused  itself 
into  every  faculty  of  men's  minds,  and  every  de- 


REVIVALISTS    WITHOUT    REVIVALS.  1 59 

partment  of  society,  —  an  impulse  which  is  to-day- 
working  intensely  in  every  Protestant  and  Catho- 
lic country,  not  even  excepting  Spain. 

We  have,  then,  a  deep  interest  in  inquiring  who 
they  were,  that,  so  many  centuries  ago,  were  thus 
preparing  the  way  for  these  blessed  triumphs  of 
the  gospel  and  grace  of  our  Lord. 

We  place  John  Tauler  in  an  eminent  position 
among  them.  Many  had  preceded  him  in  this 
work.  Indeed,  it  is  to  be  doubted  if  the  torch 
has  ever  been  permitted  to  expire  during  these 
eighteen  centuries. 

Born  to  wealth,  Tauler  gave  himself  up  to  a  life 
of  abstinence,  not  merely  cutting  off  the  indul- 
gence of  the  senses,  but  striking  death-blows  at 
the  pride  and  ambitious  desires  natural  to  all,  and 
fostered  by  high  social  position.  At  the  very 
beginning  of  his  preaching,  the  city  of  Strasburg 
was  deeply  moved  by  his  fervent  and  earnest  words. 

But  it  was  not  until  his  fiftieth  year  that  he  at- 
tained to  those  spiritual  eminences  in  which  he  is 
best  known  by  us.  In  1340  a  mysterious  stran- 
ger came  to  the  city.  The  name  the  people  gave 
him,  or  perhaps  the  historians,  was  Nicholas  of 
Basle.  He  is  called  "  a  strange  and  powerful  per- 
son, enveloped  in  mystery."  But  we  should  re- 
member, that  secrecy  and  mysteriousness  were  not 
sought  by  these  eminent  men  to  charm  and  attract 
the  simple.  The  Inquisition  was  then  in  full 
blast.     This  man  was  followed  by  the   officers  of 


l6o  LECTURES  ON  REVIVALS. 

that  demoniacal  institution ;  for  v^rhen  he  at  length 
threw  off  his  prudence,  and  ventured  alone,  unpro- 
tected, to  Vienna,  in  1382,  he  was  caught  and 
burned  by  those  fiends. 

At  that  period  "  he  swayed  the  party  known  as 
*  the  Friends  of  God,'  or,  *  the  Inspired  Laymen.' 
He  was  a  man  profoundly  impressed  with  a  sense 
of  the  vanity  of  earth  :  he  was  a  mighty  wrestler 
with  sin,  and  carried  in  his  heart  anguish  for  his 
own  transgressions.  He  was  possessed  with  such 
living  and  vivid  convictions,  that  he  spake  and 
acted  with  the  authority  of  a  prophet,  and  sought 
too  often  truth  and  light  in  direct  revelations  from 
God  by  ecstasy  and  visions."  He  came  to  Stras- 
burg  in  1340;  gained  an  entire  ascendency  over 
Tauler ;  induced  him  to  leave  •  the  pulpit  for  two 
years  after  he  had"  become  the  admired  theologian 
and  preacher  from  Basle  to  Cologne,  —  to  live  in  a 
cell,  mortifying  the  body,  and  purifying  the  soul, 
by  assiduous  meditations  upon  the  sufferings  of 
Christ.  They  were  two  years  of  profound  an- 
guish, of  spiritual  and  corporeal  suffering,  and  of 
salutary  struggles,  which  ended  in  victory.  From 
the  period  of  his  renewed  appearing  in  the  pulpit, 
we  contemplate  him  as  one  of  the  most  noble  and 
touching  types  of  Christian  character.  Thencefor- 
ward he  was  distinguished  for  his  eminent  virtues, 
profound  humility,  inner  life  of  singular  intensity, 
simple,  practical,  and  thoroughly  Christian  charity. 
He  partook   of   that   immense  compassion  which 


REVIVALISTS    WITHOUT    REVIVALS.  l6l 

moved  the  heart  of  Jesus,  when,  weeping  over  the 
sins  of  Jerusalem,  he  was  going  about,  a  shepherd 
seeking  the  lost  of  his  fold,  ''  doing  good." 

In  a  word,  he  had  an  ardent,  elevated,  childlike 
piety.  In  intellect  and  character  he  was  even 
superior  to  his  friend  Ruysbroek,  who  had  great- 
ness enough  to  bring  the  wild  and  extravagant 
mysticism  of  his  day  to  the  sobriety,  purity,  and 
solidity  of  the  later  mystics. 

In  forming  our  estimate  of  the  men  of  past  ages, 
we  should  both  hold  impartial  balances,  and  make 
allowance  for  the  influences  of  the  times  on  the 
conscience  and  character.  He  lived  in  a  terrible 
age.  It  has  been  denominated  an  epoch  of  tears, 
of  blood,  of  unmeasured  calamity. 

The  war  between  France  and  England,  filling 
an  entire  century  with  its  woes,  had  commenced. 
The  pope  and  the  emperor  were  in  deadly  conflict. 
The  conscience  of  Europe  was  filled  with  horror 
under  the  interdict  of  a  miserable  monk,  calling 
himself  head  of  the  Church,  and  vicegerent  of 
God.  Earthquakes,  hurricanes,  famine,  and  pesti- 
lence combined  their  horrors  with  those  of  a  moral 
nature,  to  crush  the  heart  of  the  nations.  * 

That  was  the  period  for  monkery ;  and  the  in- 
ducements to  it  were  powerful.  But  Tauler  was  a 
monk  of  his  own  kind.  He  renounced  the  world 
without  forsaking  his  fellow-men.  His  theory  was, 
"  When  you  are  plunged  in  interior  meditation, 
and  God  calls  you  to  go  forth  and  preach,  or  to 
14* 


1 62  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

discharge  to  a  poor  sick  person  a  duty  of  charity, 
do  it  promptly  and  with  joy;  and  the  presence  of 
God  will  be  more  sensible  to  you  there  than  if  you 
remain  concentrated  upon  self." 

This  was  wonderful  in  that  age  of  selfish  piety, 
in  which  each  earnest  spirit  was  seeking  solely  a 
salvation  from  suffering,  and  not  from  selfishness. 
His  doctrinal  belief  was  not  wholly  scriptural. 
The  great  sacrifice  he  regarded  as  a  means  of  sal- 
vation, not  as  its  only  efficacious  ground. 

He  was  a  mystic ;  which  means  much  or  little, 
and  depends  for  its  meaning  on  certain  views  of 
him  who  employs  it.  All  supernaturalism  is  mys- 
ticism with  the  sensuous  and  rationalistic.  But 
we  use  it  to  describe  reliance  on  personal  intui- 
tions, independent  of,  or  in  opposition  to,  the  word 
of  God.  It  may  be  harmless  when  not  anti-scrip- 
tural, and  when  contented  with  believing  ;  terrific, 
when  it  can  and  will  wield  physical  power  to 
enforce  its  convictions  on  others. 

It  was  one  of  the  imperfect  forms  in  which  true 
godliness  was  then  working  its  way  through  the 
world. 

Tauler  was  no  idler,  nor  dreamer,  but  was  con- 
stantly preaching  in  the  Rhenish  towns.  Asso- 
ciating with  himself  an  Augustinian  monk 
(Thomas  of  Strasburg),  and  a  Chartreux  monk 
(Rudolph  of  Saxony),  he  drew  up  two  circular  let- 
ters, addressed  to  the  clergy,  urging  them  to  disre- 
gard the  blasphemous  interdict  of  the  pope,  which 


REVIVALISTS   WITHOUT   REVIVALS.  1 63 

forbade  the  poor  dying  man  to  receive  the  conso- 
lations of  religion,  because  the  pope  and  emperor 
wevQ  quarrelling  about  their  selfish  schemes.  His 
bold  language  in  his  second  letter  was,  "  He  who 
confesses  the  true  Christian  faith,  and  has  done  no 
other  evil  than  that  of  resisting  the  pope,  is  still 
far  from  being  a  heretic." 

His  holy  charity  culminated  in  1348,  when  the 
plague  hovered  like  a  death-angel  over  a  terrified 
people,  while  fifteen  thousand  persons  in  Stras- 
burg  lay  smitten  as  by  a  thunderbolt.  The  con- 
sciences of  men  were  horrified  under  the  sentence 
of  excommunication  resting  upon  their  emperor 
and  themselves ;  the  churches  were  closed,  and 
the  flocks  forsaken  of  their  shepherds.  In  that 
awful  period  Tauler,  calm  and  strong  in  faith 
and  love,  went  forth  alone,  defying  the  threat- 
enings  of  pope  and  bishop,  night  and  day,  his 
heart  overflowing  with  compassion ;  preaching  in 
the  churches ;  then  hurrying  to  the  couches  of  the 
dying,  and  returning  again  to  the  pulpit.  Braving 
death,  the  pope,  and  Satan,  he  preached  to  the 
terror-stricken  people  the  consolations  of  Christ. 

It  is  cheering,  in  looking  back  to  those  gloomy 
ages,  to  discern,  amid  their  dense  darkness,  the 
glimmering  of  such  heaven-kindled  lights,  their 
horrors  relieved  by  the  presence  of  such. spirits. 

Such  w^as  the  intensity  of  his  soul,  that  his 
oratory  cannot  be  classed  with  what  is  ordinarily 
called  preaching.     We  are  occupied  much  with  the 


164  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

rules  of  art,  and  the  demands  of  taste.  But  what 
are  the  rules  of  art  ?  They  are  the  scientific  ex- 
planation of  the  way  in  which  fire  burns.  There 
is  no  fire,  however,  in  them.  To  think  when  we 
get  them  we  have  fire  too,  that  is  a  mistake  very 
common  to  our  profession. 

Tauler's  soul  was  a  sweeping  flame  rushing 
upon  the  heap  of  chaff ;  a  hammer  hitting  the  rock 
with  blow  on  blow,  leaving  no  time  nor  oppor- 
tunity for  fastidiousness  and  criticism  to  play 
their  poor  game  in  the  presence  of  judgment, 
retribution,  and  redeeming  love. 

He  had  learned  the  first  lesson  in  the  school  of 
Christian  oratory,  —  die  to  self  and  fame.  He  had 
learned  the  second, — let  the  smile  of  Christ,  and 
the  anticipated  gratitude  of  redeemed  souls,  be  your 
present  reward. 

One  day  he  was  preaching  on  the  parable  of  the 
ten  virgins.  While  describing  the  joy  of  a  saved 
soul  at  the  coming  of  the  Bridegroom,  a  voice 
from  the  crowd  was  heard,  "It  is  true!"  and  a 
person  fell  as  dead  in  the  rapturous  excitement  of 
the  moment.  "  Enough,  enough  ! "  shouted  the 
people,  "  since  this  person  is  dying  in  his  arms." 
The  preacher  responded,  "  Ah,  my  dear  children, 
if  the  Bridegroom  calls  this  dear  soul  away,  we 
must  not  detain  it.  But  I  will  cease."  The  dis- 
course ended  there. 

Chevalier  Bunsen  compares  the  men  of  this- 
class  to   Socrates,  bringing   "  religion   home   froril 


REVIVALISTS    WITHOUT    REVIVALS.  1 65 

fruitless  speculation  and  reasonings,  upon  imagi- 
nary or  impossible  suppositions,  to  man's  ov^n  heart, 
and  to  the  understanding  of  the  common  people,  as 
Socrates  did  the  Greek  philosophy.  They  exhibited 
to  their  disciples  the  whole  depth  of  that  real  Chris- 
tian philosophy  which  opens  to  the  mind,  after  all 
scholastic  conventionalism  has  been  thrown  away  ; 
and  the  soul  listens  to  the  response  which  Christ's 
gospel  and  God's  creation  find  in  a  sincere  heart 
and  a  self-sacrificing  life,  —  a  philosophy,  which, 
considered  merely  as  a  speculation,  is  far  more  pro- 
found than  any  scholastic  system. 

"  They  brought  the  people  back  from  hollow 
profession  and  real  despair,  to  the  blessings  of 
gospel  religion,  while  they  opened  to  philosophic 
minds  a  new  career  of  thought.  By  teaching  that 
man  is  justified  by  faith  alone,  they  prepared  the 
popular  intellectual  element  of  the  Reformation." 

Never  shall  we  appreciate  the  full  measure  of 
our  indebtedness  to  the  Revivalists  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  to  whose  labors  history  traces  no 
direct  results. 

Those  labors,  like  the  beams  of  light  from  our 
remotest  fellow-planet,  are  continually  reaching  and 
affecting  us  in  our  studies,  our  prayer-meetings,  our 
pulpits.  All  your  future  work  will  be  performed 
under  this  principle ;  *'  Other  men  labored,  and 
ye  are  entered  into  their  labors."  *  Settled  in 
a  remote  Western  village,  or  preaching  in  China, 

*  John  iv.  38. 


1 66  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

you  will  find  John  Tauler  at  your  side.  His  two 
years  of  conflict,  his  victorious  egress  from  that 
retirement,  master  of  himself,  and  "separated  unto 
Christ,"  form  a  portion  of  the  mighty  current  of 
forces  by  which  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  raising 
the  nineteenth  century  above  the  twelfth,  and 
sweeping  away  the  barriers  of  pride^  of  self-indul- 
gence and  worldliness,  by  which  the  promised 
coming  of  the  Lord  is  delayed. 


SEVENTH   LECTURE. 

Revivalists  without  Revivals  {continued), 

STAUPITZ. 

As  we  have  time  but  for  one  more  brief  sketch 
from  the  class  of  Revivahsts  without  a  Revival, 
we  select  one  whose  greatest  work,  probably,  was 
the  shaping  of  one  of  the  most  effective  instru- 
ments in  securing  the  world's  emancipation ;  and 
therefore  now  interesting  to  us  in  only  a  section 
of  his  life. 

John  von  Staupitz  was  descended  from  a  noble 
Saxon  family.  Endowed  by  nature  with  those 
qualities  which  insure  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  men,  he  was  raised  by  grace  entirely  above  the 
age  in  which  he  lived,  and  led  by  Providence  to 
meet  Martin  Luther  in  the  critical  period  of  his 
life,  thus  determining  the  current  of  his  thought. 

His  figure  was  noble ;  his  manners  were  dignified 
and  graceful ;  his  mind  was  cultivated  in  the  highest 
range  of  science  and  literature ;  his  eloquence  was 
commanding ;  his  principles  were  pure  and  lofty. 
A  diligent  and  successful  student,  he  was  early 
distinguished  by  successive  elevations  to  responsi- 

ble  positions  in  the  Church  and  the  universities. 

167 


1 68  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Frederic  the  Wise,  Elector  of  Saxony,  made  him  a 
personal  friend ;  and,  in  founding  the  University 
of  Wittenberg,  he  employed  Staupitz  first  as  a 
counsellor  and  negotiator,  and  then  as  a  dean  of 
the  theological  faculty.  In  the  next  year,  he  was 
appointed  vicar-general  of  the  Augustinian  order 
for  Germany. 

To  these  natural  qualities  and  distinguished 
positions  were  added  the  higher  qualities  and 
acquisitions  of  a  humble  disciple  of  Christ,  free 
from  the  superstitions  and  anti-Christian  notions 
then  paralyzing  the  Church.  Early  disgusted  with 
the  dry  and  unprofitable  speculations  of  the  scho- 
lastic theologians,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the 
word  of  God  and  the  writings  of  the  mystics, 
of  Bernard  and  Gerson,  and  men  like  Thomas 
a  Kempis. 

He  was  not,  however,  a  demonstrative  man, 
not  possessed  of  that  form  of  energy  which  makes 
a  reformer ;  although,  as  Luther  says,  "  He  was 
not  only  worthy  to  be  heard  with  reverence  as  a 
scholar  in  the  seats  of  learning,  and  in  the  Church; 
but  also  at  the  court  of  princes,  and  in  the  society 
of  the  great,  he  was  held  in  much  estimation  for 
his  knowledge  of  the  world." 

This  man  had  been  led  to  Christ  by  a  profound 
and  conscientious  study  of  the  Scriptures,  St. 
Augustine's  writings,  and  his  own  heart,  and  by 
conflicts  with  that  heart. 

It  was  his  duty,  as  vicar,  to  visit  the  convents 


REVIVALISTS    WITHOUT    REVIVALS.  169 

of  his  order.  Coming  to  that  of  Erfurt,  his  atten- 
tion v^as  arrested  by  the  remarkable  appearance  of 
a  3^oung  monk,  the  fire  of  whose  great  heart  was 
burning  in  his  eye,  but  the  rest  of  whose  frame 
expressed  the  anguish  of  a  soul  that  feared  God, 
and  yet  longed  to  serve  him,  and  that  recognized 
in  Jesus  only  a  judge.  Pale,  emaciated,  gloomy, 
but  with  a  solemn  earnestness  in  his  mien,  Martin 
Luther  stood  before  his  director. 

Their  successive  interviews,  from  that  day,  form 
the  subject  of  a  beautiful  chapter  in  church  history. 
Get  the  scene  of  this  venerable  vicar,  —  a  man,  by 
birth,  by  learning,  by  position,  by  piety,  among  the 
most  eminent,  —  meeting  the  poor  miner's  son,  a 
sincere  Catholic,  carrying  out  the  doctrines  and 
directions  of  his  church  conscientiously,  to  utter 
despair,  and  the  crushing  of  his  manhood.  The 
venerable  man  understood  his  case  at  a  glance. 
He  had  learned  by  experience  just  what  Luther 
was  doing,  learning,  and  enduring  in  the  great 
school  of  the  great  Master.  He  had  learned  at 
Jesus'  feet  what  Luther  ought  to  do  ;  and  he  in- 
spired that  timid,  trembling  heart  with  confidence 
and  hope. 

Suffice  it  here  to  say  that  Staupitz  met  him  at 
every  point  with  the  infinitely  precious  doctrines 
of  grace,  and  ended  one  interview  with  these 
words  :  ''  There  is  no  true  repentance  but  that 
which  commences  with  loving  God  and  his  right- 
eousness.    What  others  regard  as  the  completing 

'5 


170  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

of  repentance  is  only  its  beginning.  To  be  con- 
verted, quit  these  mortifications  of  the  flesh.  Love 
Him  w^ho  first  loved  you." 

Luther  heard  with  amazement.  He  seemed  to 
be  listening,  not  to  a  man,  but  to  Jesus,  his  blessed 
Redeemer.  "  Yes,"  he  exclaimed  to  himself,  ''it 
is  Jesus  Christ  himself  who  is  consoling  me  so 
admirably  by  his  sweet  and  salutary  words." 
Luther  might  then  have  taken  up  the  words  of 
the  prophet :  "  How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains 
are  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  good  tidings, 
that  publisheth  peace  ;  that  bringeth  good  tidings 
of  good,  that  publisheth  salvation  !  "  * 

Thus  prepared,  Luther  went  forth  into  the  great 
field  for  which  the  Lord  had  been  training  him. 
In  a  few  years  he  entered  the  city  of  Rome  to 
complete  his  education :  in  aim  a  Catholic,  his 
Master  meant  him  for  a  Reformer.  He  needed  to 
study  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  which  he  there  did ; 
and  to  see,  with  his  own  eyes,  to  what  depths  of 
moral  and  social  degradation  Popery  had  reduced 
the  central  city  of  Christendom.  That  lesson  he 
thoroughly  learned  there. 

Luther  led  and  guided,  under  his  heavenly  Cap- 
tain, the  great  Revival  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
in  Germany;  but  Staupitz  led  Luther,  and  so 
stands  eminent  in  that  class  of  Revivalists  without 
a  Revival. 

We  must  admit,  however,  that  the  distinction  is 

*  Isa.  lii.  7. 


REVIVALISTS    IN    REVIVALS.  fjl 

not  a  very  important  one  ;  having  only  this  histori- 
cal value,  that  it  is  a  very  distinguishing  feature  of 
any  laborer's  influence,  that  it  has  directly  and 
peculiarly  contributed  to  lead  on  the  leaders  in 
Revivals,  or  to  prepare  the  public  mind  for  the 
labors  of  such  leaders. 

Revivalists  in  Revivals. 

Having  noticed,  though  briefly,  the  class  of  men 
whose  labors  have  contributed  to  bring  about  the 
great  epochs  of  church-history  in  an  indirect  way, 
we  shall  now  glance  at  the  catalogue  of  those  who 
became,  as  it  were,  the  pivorts  of  the  age,  the  real 
cardinals  or  hinges  of  society ;  some  of  them  car- 
rying the  whole  body  of  the  Church  with  them,  to 
a  new  stage  of  thought  and  action,  with  new  light, 
and  under  new  impulses  ;  the  others  acting  within 
a  narrower  sphere.  These  we  denominate  Revival- 
ists in  Revivals. 

We  may  indulge  the  pleasing  thought,  that  he 
who  brought  our  race  to  ruin  was  the  first  to  tread 
the  path  of  repentance,  as  he  was  the  first  to  enter 
that  of  disobedience.  His  repentant  sigh  was,  then, 
the  first  uttered,  perhaps,  in  the  universe :  his 
purpose  to  return  to  trust  and  obey  his  Father  was 
the  beginning  of  all  the  momentous  changes  by 
which  the  elect  are  to  be  gathered  home  at  last. 
Yet  neither  in  his  case,  nor  in  that  of  Abel,  could 
there  be  a  social  movement.  Abraham  introduced 
a  new  era  in  the  Church ;    but  it  was  mainly  a 


17?  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

personal  experience,  which  has  left  to  us  only  his 
sublime  example,  and  the  influence  he  exerted  over 
his  own  family  directly,  and  his  generation  in- 
directly. 

Moses,  however,  was  eminently  a  Revivalist. 
Under  him  occurred  a  change  in  the  whole  tone 
and  form  of  the  Church.  So  was  David  a  Revival- 
ist in  the  department  of  worship.  Elijah  saved 
the  Church  from  utter  apostasy,  but  seems  not  to 
have  affected  immediately  any  manifest  reforma- 
tion. Ezra  and  Nehemiah  led  a  great  external 
movement,  accompanied  by  a  great  spiritual  ren- 
ovation in  the  people.  John  the  Baptist  met  the 
great  current  of  public  expectation,  and  gave  it  a 
channel,  leading  men  to  the  Messiah.  The  apos- 
tles were  the  instruments  of  the  Revival  par  excel- 
leiice.  The  missionaries  who  followed  them  were 
eminently  successful  in  arousing  the  consciences 
of  the  Pagans,  and  in  bringing  cities  and  states  to 
accept  the  gospel. 

We  might,  perhaps,  consider  Jerome  Savona- 
rola, the  Italian  reformer  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
as  one  whose  labors  resulted  in  immediate  and 
widespread  effects.  But  by  that  time  the  names 
begin  to  cluster  around  us  in  such  profusion,  that 
we  must  cease  these  general  descriptions,  and 
select  a  few  out  of  the  great  body  upon  whom  to  fix 
our  attention  more  definitely. 

And  our  choice  shall  be  guided  by  the  purpose 
of  presenting  individuals   eminently  and   respect- 


\ 

REVIVALISTS    IN   REVIVALS.  1 73 

ively  representing  one  of  those  elements  of  charac- 
ter which  are  required  in  all  who  hope  for  eminent 
success  in  Revivals.     We  begin  with 

JOHN    HUSS. 

You  may  be  inclined  to  inquire  here :  But  had 
John  Huss  a  Revival  in  Prague,  in  1410,  like  that 
in  Boston  in  1 840  ?  The  reply  is,  Yes,  like,  and  yet 
unlike ;  and  this  is  precisely  what,  as  Christian 
philosophers,  we  must  ever  do,  —  discern  the  unity 
in  the  various  and  diversified  movements  by  which 
the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  is  advanced.  Precisely 
the  same  spirit,  with  much  diversity  of  tempera- 
ment and  acquired  qualifications,  is  demanded  in 
them  all.  And  it  is  only  by  studying  the  lives  of 
men  who  have  preceded  us  in  the  more  difficult, 
perilous,  and  also  intellectual  forms  of  Revivals, 
that  we  can  enter  into  our  own  portion  of  the 
work  with  suitable  dignity  of  purpose,  breadth  of 
view,  courage,  humility,  and  enthusiasm. 

A  pastor  can  afford  to  entertain  a  commonplace 
view  of  no  portion  of  his  work. 

We  have  ranked  John  Huss  among  the  Revi- 
valists with  a  Revival,  because  the  world  all  around 
him  was  stirred  ;  and  thousands  were  regenerated 
and  sanctified  under  his  labors,  although  his  per- 
sonal history,  his  conflicts,  and  his  martyrdom, 
stand  most  prominent  in  the  public  eye.  He  was 
a  Revivalist  indeed.  His  teachings,  character,  and 
trials  were  like  the  sound  of  the  last  trumpet  to  a 


17-4  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

corrupt  priesthood  and  a  slumbering  church.  All 
Bohemia  —  yes,  all  Christendom  —  felt  the  beatings 
of  the  heart  of  the  humble  monk  of  Prague ;  and, 
after  his  death,  the  fire  spread  over  the  face  of 
Europe.  The  Emperor  Sigismund,  a  selfish  and 
superstitious  man,  respected  Huss,  but  hated  his 
views,  and  determined  to  bring  him  before  a 
general  council,  who  would  induce  him,  he  hoped, 
to  renounce  his  heresies.  But  that  council,  and  its 
issue,  made  the  Reformation  of  Luther,  one  cen- 
tury later,  a  certain  result.  It  kindled  the  funeral- 
pile  of  Huss  and  Jerome ;  but  the  fire  of  the  stake 
touched  the  heart  of  all  Bohemia  and  Germany. 
The  Hussites,  the  Thaborites,  the  Calixtines  em- 
bodied his  principal  views  in  their  creeds,  and  kept 
the  sacred  fire  of  reform  alive  upon  its  altar. 

John  Huss  was  born  at  Hussinetz,  in  Bohemia, 
July  6,  1373.  His  parents,  like  those  of  Luther, 
were  poor  peasants.  They  never  imagined,  in 
educating  him  so  thoroughly  in  sacred  and  profane 
literature,  that  they  were  but  adorning  the  victim 
for  the  altar.  He  was  distinguished  as  a  scholar, 
and  was  made  professor  of  theology  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Prague  when  only  twenty-five  years  old. 
Within  twelve  years,  there  were  twenty  thousand 
students  collected  there  from  all  parts  of  Europe. 

At  twenty-seven  years  of  age  he  was  appointed 
confessor  to  Sophia  the  Queen  of  Bohemia,  and 
preacher  in  the  celebrated  church  of  the  capital, 
named  "  the  Church  of  Bethlehem." 


REVIVALISTS    IN    REVIVALS.  1 75 

If  we  search  for  the  providential  training  that 
fitted  him  for  his  work,  we  find,  first  of  all,  the  time 
of  his  birth.  Popery  had  gone  as  far  as  God  or 
man  could  tolerate  it.  The  personal  wickedness 
and  official  tyranny  of  the  clergy,  from  the  pope 
downwards,  had  brought  on  internal  schism  and 
external  opposition.  The  Waldenses,  true  suc- 
cessors of  the  apostles,  had  accustomed  men  to 
bring  the  dignitaries  of  the  Church  to  the  bar  of 
conscience  and  common-sense.  Switzerland  and 
Germany  had  been  filled  with  their  doctrines  for 
more  than  a  century.  Conrad  Hager,  who  in  1 342, 
though  a  layman,  had  publicly  impugned  the  mass 
in  Wurzburg,  was  but  one  of  many.  Claude,  Arnold 
of  Brescia,  Berenger,  and  Waldo  had  all  done  the 
same.  The  three  popes  were  claiming  each  to  be 
the  infallible  viceroy  of  Christ.  Princes  and  phi- 
losophers were  contending  for  and  against  the 
incumbents  ;  and  probably  some  of  them  had  seen 
far  enough  to  suspect  the  whole  affair  to  be  a 
blasphemous  usurpation  of  divine  prerogatives,  and 
a  tyrannous  domineering  over  human  consciences. 

Amid  this  intense  public  excitement,  John  of 
Hussinetz  began  to  look  around  the  world  into 
which  he  had  come.  His  sincere  simple-hearted- 
ness made  him  ready  to  receive  such  light  as 
might  be  vouchsafed  to  him.  He  never  reached 
our  point  of  Protestantism ;  nor  even  did  Luther 
attain  to  our  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  views. 
He  was  a  Revivalist  .and  reformer  within  his  church, 
as  so  many  thousands  have  been. 


176  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

His  mind  seems  to  have  received  its  first  definite 
impulse  toward  reform  by  a  remarkable  arrange- 
ment of  Providence.  Anne,  sister  to  the  king  of 
Bohemia,  was  chosen  as  the  wife  of  a  British 
prince  and  sovereign,  Richard  II.  This  produced 
an  intimate  alliance  between  England  and  Bohe- 
mia, in  consequence  of  which  a  young  Bohemian 
studied  at  Oxford,  and,  on  returning  home,  brought 
the  writings  of  Wickliffe  with  him. 

Then  Jerome,  a  man  of  still  superior  intellect  to 
Huss,  of  greater  eloquence  and  learning,  also  re- 
turned from  Oxford  in  1402,  bringing,  likewise,  the 
works  of  Wickliffe  to  Bohemia,  having  fully  adopted 
his  views.  In  1406  he,  as  the  predecessor  of 
Luther,  posted  on  the  doors  of  lecture-rooms  in 
Heidelberg  theses  against  the  pope. 

The  eighth  chapter  of  Ezekiel,  in  which  the 
prophet  describes  a  hole  made  in  the  wall  of  a 
chamber  in  the  temple,  by  which  the  abominations 
of  the  priesthood  were  exposed,  powerfully  im- 
pressed him,  and  emboldened  him  to  make  still 
more  direct  attacks  on  the  luxury  and  rapacity  of 
the  clergy. 

We  see,  from  his  admirable  letters,  published  by 
Luther,  that  his  spirit  was  much  moulded  by  study- 
ing the  zeal  and  condescension  of  the  Saviour. 

Huss  may  be  regarded  as  eminently  exhibiting 
one  element  of  the  Revivalist,  —  sclf-rejiiinciatioit. 

Of  course,  the  other  graces  cluster  around  that 
root-element  of  character ;  but  it  was  in  him  su- 


REVIVALISTS    IN   REVIVALS. 


177 


preme,  and  the  main  source  of  his  success.  There 
v^as  the  hiding  of  his  power.  There  came  a  time, 
we  know  not  when,  in  which  he  l^id  at  his  Sav- 
iour's feet  all  he  was  and  had.  From  that  period 
John  of  Huss'  honor,  comfort,  success,  life,  all 
were  held  utterly  subordinate  to  the  Saviour's 
honor,  the  maintenance  of  his  gospel,  the  salvation 
of  men. 

We  look  for  this,  not  so  much  in  strong  profes- 
sions and  high  pretensions  as  in  its  effects  on  the 
whole  character  and  life.  It  resulted,  for  instance, 
in  very  great  simplicity  and  sincerity.  His  letters 
are  the  unveiling  of  his  heart.  In  one  to  his  friends, 
written  on  leaving  Prague  to  meet  the  council,  he 
has  but  one  subject  of  prayer  to  propose  to  them. 
He  (Joes  not  ask  that  his  life  may  be  preserved, 
that  he  may  not  suffer  at  the  hands  of  his  fierce 
enemies  :  his  single  request  is,  "  Let  us  pray  God 
that  I  may  return  from  the  council  unstained ;  that 
is,  that  I  may  concede  no  truth  of  the  gospel,  that 
I  may  leave  my  brethren  a  good  example  to  follow. 
Perhaps,  then,  you  will  never  see  my  face  in  Prague 
again;  but,  if  the  will  of  almighty  God  deigns  to 
restore  me  to  you,  let  us  then  advance  with  a 
firmer  heart  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  his 
law." 

His  entire  correspondence,  and  his  bearing  be- 
fore the  council,  reveal  a  mind  fully  convinced  of 
the  truths  he  professed,  and  a  heart  deeply  im- 
pressed with  their    supreme  importance.      There 


178  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

was  nothing  perfunctory  in  the  labors  of  John 
Huss,  —  no  counting  how  much  honor  they  were 
going  to  bring  him,  how  his  preaching  might  affect 
his  purse.  He  had  renounced  his  own  things  ; 
and  those  of  Christ  had  so  taken  their  place,  that 
whatever  affection,  zeal,  enthusiasm,  earnestness, 
he  had  in  his  nature,  all  belonged  to  the  Redeemer 
and  his  gospel. 

This,  also,  resulted  in  boldness. 

Men  are  cowardly  because  they  are  selfish.  Hav- 
ing found  nothing  greater  than  themselves,  nothing 
they  prize  more,  they  of  course  know  no  reason 
why  they  should  not  take  care  of  self  at  the  sacri- 
fice of  any  other  object. 

Hear  this  martyr  writing  to  his  brethren,  who 
were  overwhelmed  with  grief  for  his  position  in 
the  hands  of  his  enemies.  This  was  written  to  the 
rector  of  the  university :  "  I  protest,  then,  venera- 
ble rector,  that  I  have  never  been  overwhelmed  by 
persecution.  I  am  overwhelmed  only  by  my  sins, 
and  the  backslidings  of  the  people  of  God.  What 
are  the  riches  of  the  world  to  me  }  What  afflic- 
tion can  cause  me  any  real  loss  }  What  is  to  me 
the  loss  of  the  world's  favor,  which  turns  us  from 
the  Lord's  way }  What  is  to  me  the  infamy 
which,  humbly  borne,  proves,  refines,  illumines,  the 
children  of  God,  so  that  they  shine  and  radiate 
like  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father .? 
What,  in  fine,  is  death,  if  it  takes  me  out  of  this 
miserable  life.?     He  who  loses  it  here  below  tri- 


REVIVALISTS    IN    REVIVALS.  179 

umphs  over  death  itself,  and  finds  the  true 
life." 

This  v^as  to  his  friends  in  Prague :  "  Dearly  be- 
loved, trouble  not  yourselves  on  account  of  either 
my  absence  from  you,  or  the  maledictions  with 
which  the  enemies  of  God  load  me.  They  know 
not  what  they  do.  They  cannot  injure  me,  whether 
by  blasphemously  erecting  my  cross,  or  by  public 
vociferations  against  me.  In  doing  these  things, 
they  are  working  their  own  ruin.  It  behooves 
them  to  tremble." 

He  reached  the  point  of  unreserved  consecra- 
tion early  in  his  life.  And,  however  we  may  cen- 
sure the  act,  the  spirit  of  it  is  probably  above 
that  exercised  by  any  of  us  who  censure  it.  One 
winter  evening  he  was  reading  of  the  martyr  Lau- 
rentius.  When  he  came  to  the  description  of  his 
death  in  the  flames,  he  thrust  his  own  hand  into 
the  flame  before  him.  His  reply  to  the  inquiry, 
what  he  was  doing,  was  this  :  "  I  am  trying  how 
much  of  the  torment  endured  by  this  martyr  I 
could  bear." 

In  the  same  manner  his  life  is  a  constant  exhibi- 
tion of  meekness,  patience,  fortitude,  firmness,  all 
the  gentler,  and  then  all  the  sterner  qualities  of 
Christian  manhood.  There  is  a  grandeur  in  Huss 
which  constantly  foreshadows  the  nobleness  of 
Luther's  character  and  career. 

Luther  remarks  in  his  Preface  to  Huss'  Let- 
ters, ''When  a  student  of  theolgy  at  Erfurt,  my 


l8o  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

hand  fell  upon  a  book,  entitled  'Sermons  of  John 
Huss.'  I  was  instantly  inflamed  w^ith  a  desire  to 
learn  what  heresies  he  had  promulgated.  I  was 
seized  with  stupor,  and  filled  with  indescribable 
amazement,  on  searching  for  their  motives  in  burn- 
ing so  great  a  man,  a  doctor  so  grave,  so  skilled  in 
expounding  the  Scriptures." 

Retraction  was  what  his  enemies  claimed  of  him. 
His  reply  was,  "  I  have  nothing  to  retract."  Ces- 
sation of  his  pungent  attacks  on  the  vices  of  the 
clergy  was  that  which  would  have  silenced  their 
opposition,  and  saved  him  from  martyrdom.  He 
understood  that,  and  never  for  an  instant,  either 
in  the  damp  filthy  dungeon  of  Constance,  or  before 
that  great  assembly  of  dignitaries,  ecclesiastical  and 
civil,  yielded  to  their  wishes,  nor  consented  to  pur- 
chase liberty  or  fife  at  the  cost  of  his  conscience. 

I  must,  then,  close  this  sketch  of  his  character  by 
quoting  the  words  of  Balbuins,  a  Jesuit  :  "  John 
Huss  was  more  subtle  than  eloquent  ;  but  the 
modesty  and  severity  of  his  manners,  his  austere 
and  irreproachable  life,  his  pale  and  melancholic 
visage,  his  great  sweetness  and  affableness  toward 
all,  even  the  most  humble,  were  more  persuasive 
than  the  greatest  eloquence." 

His  labors  consisted  in  preaching  and  publishing. 
Wickliffe  had  elaborated  the  essential  principles  of 
what  became,  in  a  hundred  and  fifty  years.  Protes- 
tantism. But  they  needed  just  the  dilution,  and 
the   remoulding   in  a  popular   form,   which    Huss 


REVIVALISTS    IN    REVIVALS.  I5I 

gave  them.  It  then  only  remained  for  Luther  to 
apply  them.  Luther  says  that  his  great  offence 
consisted  in  maintaining,  that,  though  the  pope 
might  be  the  pastor  of  a  local  church,  he  could  not 
be  the  head  of  the  Universal  Church.  "All  these 
sage  men  of  the  Council  of  Constance  had  heard 
the  same  thing  said,  and  had  encouraged  others  to 
say  it ;  for  they  themselves  had  dethroned  three 
guilty  pontiffs.  Yet  these  same  men  v^ho  recog- 
nized no  right  in  the  pope  to  burn  them  for  saying  it, 
when  John  Huss  said  the  same  thing,  led  him  to 
the  stake  for  it." 

No  persuasions,  no  threats,  no  subtle  evasions 
proposed,  could  induce  him  to  save  himself,  and 
sacrifice  the  truth  ;  and  on  the  6th  of  July,  141 5,  he 
ascended  to  his  rest  in  a  chariot  of  fire.  Among  his 
last  words  were  these  :  "  After  a  hundred  years  you 
Papists  shall  be  called  to  an  account.  I  suffer  for 
my  Saviour's  name ;  and  to-day  I  go  to  reign  with 
him.  To-day  I  joyfully  sign  with  my  blood  the 
truths  which  I  have  taught." 

Methodism,  or  the  Wesleys  and  Whitefield. 

Our  attention  is  now  directed  to  a  group  of  more 
remarkable  Revivalists  than  have  appeared  since  the 
days  of  Luther  and  his  co-laborers :  I  mean  White- 
field  and  the- Wesleys. 

Elizabeth  had  carried  the  day,  and  kept  the 
Church  of  England  back  from  that  completeness  of 

z6 


l82  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

reform  which  her  brother  and  her  noblest  ministers 
had  labored  to  effect. 

The  Reformation  entered  England  through  two 
channels,  —  the  Bible  explained  by  the  writings  of 
Wickliffe  and  the  subsequent  reformers ;  and  by 
the  political  action  of  Henry  VIII.  When  Elizabeth 
ascended  the  throne,  the  Continental  Reformation 
had  begun  to  betray  its  own  narrowness  and  feeble- 
ness. Glorious  as  it  was,  it  was  divine  power  em- 
ploying human  instruments,  as  always,  in  building 
up  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  It  was  founded  on  the 
one  vital  truth,  that  man  is  justified  by  faith.  But 
it  was  more  than  an  application  of  that  vital  doc- 
trine. It  was  too  extensively  ecclesiastical,  and  too 
little  spiritual,  in  its  aims. 

It  retained  many  Papal  errors  ;  and  this  imperfect 
Reformation  came  to  England  by  the  throne,  still 
more  diluted,  and  still  more  Papal  in  many  of  its 
features.  Herein  the  great  advantage  the  Stuarts 
always  had,  and  the  Puseyites  now  possess,  in  their 
attempts  to  restore  Romish  usages,  spirit,  and  forms, 
in  the  Anglican  Church. 

Religion  and  morals  were  dying  out  in  England 
when  John  and  Charles  Wesley  and  George  White- 
field  were  born.  Bishop  Burnet  affirmed  that  the 
men  who  came  to  receive  ordination  from  him 
seemed  not  even  to  have  read  the  Scriptures.  Arch- 
bishop Seeker  says,  "  Such  are  the  dissoluteness 
and  contempt  of  principle  in  the  higher  part  of  the 
world,  and  the  profligacy,  intemperance,  and  fear- 


THE    WESLEYS    AND    WHITEFIELD.  1 83 

lessness  of  committing  crimes,  in  the  lower,  as  must, 
if  this  torrent  of  impiety  stop  not,  become  fatal." 

Let  us  now  look  at  these  men  rising  to  our  view 
on  the  scenes  of  history  just  at  this  period,  con- 
templating them  as  illustrations  of  the  views  we 
have  been  taking  of  Revivals  of  religion.  Let  us 
trace  alike  the  divine  and  the  human  forces  in  these 
wonderful  series  of  events ;  and  the  divine  may  be 
contemplated  as  including  the  action  of  Providence 
and  that  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  Providence  raising  up 
the  men,  and  qualifying  them  for  their  work,  and 
guiding  them  to  it. 

Observing  these  men,  we  are  again  reminded  of 
the  justness  and  beauty  of  the  Lord's  remark  : 
"  Other  men  labored,  and  ye  are  entered  into 
their  labors."  Not  only  had  other  men  prepared 
the  way  for  their  work,  but  were  also  employed  by 
Providence  to  prepare  them  for  it. 

God  had  sent  before  them  men  like  A  Kempis, 
Law  and  Jeremy  Taylor,  Huss  and  Zinzendorf. 
Huss  had  quickened  and  shaped  the  spirits  of  many 
of  his  countrymen  ;  and,  three  centuries  after  he  had 
been  sent  to  heaven  on  his  chariot  of  fire,  Count 
Zinzendorf  was  organizing  his  Moravian  band, 
among  whom  John  Wesley  was  led  by  the  hand  of 
Providence  to  learn  many  lessons,  and  receive  many 
impressions,  which  deeply  affected  his  character 
and  course. 

The  same  Providence  brought  together  in  Ox- 
ford University  a  band  of  congenial  spirits,  who  by 


184  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

prayer,  and  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  became 
thoroughly  fitted  for  their  great  task.  We  might 
also  trace  features  of  the  ancestry  of  Wesley,  and 
events  of  domestic  history  which  Providence  em- 
ployed in  preparing  him  and  his  brother  for  their 
work. 

We  can  equally  trace  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  whole  course  of  their  remarkable 
lives.  It  was  he  who  awakened  in  them  such  ear- 
nest longings  after  personal  holiness ;  who  led 
them  successively  from  under  the  law  to  a  clear 
apprehension  of  the  way  of  salvation  by  faith  in 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  who  shed  abroad  in  John's 
heart  that  spirit  of  adoption  which  so  characterized 
his  band,  of  which  he  thus  speaks :  "  Oh,  with 
what  joy  unspeakable,  even  joy  that  was  full  of 
glory,  was  my  soul  filled,  when  the  weight  of  sin 
went  off,  and  an  abiding  sense  of  the  love  of  God, 
and  a  full  assurance  of  faith,  broke  in  upon  my  dis- 
consolate heart !  Surely  it  was  the  day  of  my 
espousals,  —  a  day  to  be  had  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance." 

It  was  the  Holy  Spirit  who  led  Charles  Wesley, 
by  the  ministry  of  Peter  Bohler,  into  the  kingdom 
of  God's  dear  Son.  It  was  the  Holy  Spirit  who 
so  matured  the  piety  of  these  two  brothers ;  who 
endowed  the  one  with  his  remarkable  qualities, — 
his  power  to  inspire  other  men,  to  instruct,  to  per- 
suade, to  organize  men,  —  and  the  other  with  the 
gifts  of  poetry,   by  which  the  gospel  was  greatly 


THE    WESLEYS    AND    WHITEFIELD.  1 85 

spread  at  that  period.  It  was  the  Holy  Spirit  who 
made  George  Whitefield  almost  a  seraph  in  piety, 
and  one  of  the  mightiest  orators  that  has  ever 
controlled  an  audience. 

It  was  he  who  gave  inspiration  to  that  whole 
Methodist  band  which  went  about  through  Britain, 
Ireland,  and  America,  overthrowing  the  kingdom 
of  Satan ;  imparting  to  the  uneducated  among 
them  a  boldness,  a  dauntlessness,  a  zeal,  a  wisdom, 
that  went  through  flood  and  flame  unflinching, 
and  filled  the  British  dominions  with  their  new 
views,  their  heavenly  spirit,  their  converts,  and 
churches. 

John  Wesley  early  discovered  that  religion  is  a 
life  with  God,  not  a  formal  discharge  of  duties, 
whether  moral  or  ceremonial.  He  sought  with 
absorbing  earnestness  "  peace  with  God,"  and  "per- 
fect love,  which  casteth  out  fear."  His  mother 
constantly  urged  him  to  make  thorough  work  of 
persona]  religion,  and  he  did ;  but  only  by  pass- 
ing through  fiery  trials,  could  he  reach  the  eminent 
position  from  which  he  was  so  to  bless  the  world. 

Arriving  at  Oxford,  he  found  the  Holy  Club 
already  known  as  "  Methodists,"  —  a  club  founded 
by  Charles,  his  brother.  They  used  to  spend  four 
evenings  of  the  week  reading  together  the  Greek 
Testament  and  the  ancient  classics ;  and  Sunday 
evenings  studying  theology.  They  partook  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  every  week,  and  fasted  twice  a 
week.  Their  tendency  at  first  was  to  asceticism  ; 
16* 


l86  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

but  Morgan,  one  of  the  band,  led  them  out  to  do 
good  in  prisons,  and  among  the  sick  and  poor. 
This  checked  the  morbid  tendency. 

Whitefield  joined  them  six  years  after  John 
Wesley  had  entered  the  club.  There,  he  says, 
he  "  was  built  up  daily  in  the  knowledge  and  fear 
of  God,  and  taught  to  endure  hardness  as  a  good 
soldier  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Who  can  ever  doubt  of  the  care  of  Christ  for 
his  Church,  after  witnessing  to  what  depths  of  deg- 
radation and  feebleness  its  friends  had  reduced  it, 
amid  abounding  infidelity  and  immorality  in  the 
hisfh  seat  of  learninoc,  where  the  British  Church 
trained  her  pastors  ?  who  can  doubt,  when  he  sees 
those  young  men  thus  living  at  Oxford,  thus  gird- 
ing on  their  armor,  thus  preparing  to  go  forth  and 
raise  a  sunken  church,  instituting  a  new  order  of 
things  in  the  whole  British  world,  on  both  sides  of 
the  ocean .? 

When  ready  for  their  work,  the  Master  sum- 
moned them  to  enter  upon  it.  Their  aim  was  not 
to  build  up  a  sect,  not  to  separate  men  from  the 
Church  then  established,  not  to  teach  new  doc- 
trines. "  Methodism  reversed  the  usual  policy  of 
religious  sects,  which  seek  to  sustain  their  spiritual 
life  by  their  orthodoxy  :  its  orthodoxy  has  been 
sustained  by  devoting  chief  concern  to  its  spiritual 
life."  It  became  "  a  system  of  vital  doctrines  and 
practical  expedients,  a  breaking-away  from  all  old 
dead  weights  which  had  encumbered  the  march  of 


THE   WESLEYS   AND   WHITEFIELD.  187 

the  Reformation,  a  Revival  church  an  its  spirit,  a 
missionary  church  in  its  organization."  * 

We  come  now  to  the  human  part  of  this  great 
organization  and  movement,  whose  results  are 
immeasurable  by  any  human  means  of  calculation. 

Its  first  aggressive  step  was  field-preaching,  a 
point  to  which  John — a  minister  of  the  Established 
Church,  a  man  of  order,  tranquillity,  delicacy, 
scholarship,  and  refined  manners — came  with  great 
reluctance.  But  the  track  of  these  three  men  soon 
became  the  fire-path  of  a  comet.  They  ignited 
their  whole  orbit :  they  shook  the  kingdom  of  dark- 
ness in  Britain  to  its  foundations.  Prelates,  bish- 
ops, gentry,  and  blackguards  all  attacked,  insulted, 
and  resisted  together  the  tremendous  invasion. 
Each  chose  his  own  weapons  and  methods ;  but  all 
united  in  the  work  of  making  Methodism  an  impos- 
sibility in  England,  Wales,  Ireland,  and  Scotland. 

But  it  was  a  possibility,  after  all.  Resistance 
was  vain.  Persecution  only  quickened  zeal.  In 
that  eighteenth  century  were  repeated  the  scenes 
Paul  had  witnessed,  —  mobs,  arrests,  stonings, 
scourgings,  imprisonments,  murders.  For  forty 
years  their  preachers  worked  in  the  face  of  infu- 
riated mobs,  many  of  them  laying  their  lives  down 
for  their  Saviour's  cause. 

To  show  the  spirit  in  which  these  men  labored, 
I  will  cite  two  cases.  Whitefield  had  erected  his 
immense  tabernacle  church;  but  he  could  not  be 

*  Stevens. 


l88  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

satisfied  with  preaching  only  to  such  as  would 
come  there  to  hear  him.  He  knew  that  the  lost 
sheep  must  be  searched  out.  On  the  Whitsun 
holidays,  Moorfields  was  Satan's  harvest-field.  His 
remark  was,  *'  The  devils  there  hold  their  rendez- 
vous ;  and  I  am  resolved  to  meet  them  in  pitched 
battle."  He  began  early,  in  order  to  secure  the 
field  before  the  crowd  was  large.  At  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  he  found  ten  thousand  people 
waiting  impatiently  for  the  sports  of  the  day. 
Mounting  his  field-pulpit,  assured  that  he  "  had,  for 
once,  got  the  start  of  the  Devil,"  he  soon  drew  the 
whole  multitude  around  him. 

At  noon  he  again  took  the  field.  Before  long, 
twenty  and  thirty  thousand  were  around  him.  He 
described  it  as  in  full  possession  of  Beelzebub, 
whose  agents  were  fully  awake.  Drummers,  trum- 
peters, Merry-Andrews,. puppet-shows,  wild  beasts, 
players,  were  all  there,  furnishing  attraction  to  the 
people.  He  shouted  his  text,  "  Great  is  Diana  of 
the  Ephesians,"  and  boldly  charged  home  upon 
their  vicious  and  hurtful  dissipations.  The  crafts- 
men were  alarmed ;  and  the  scenes  of  Ephesus 
were  reproduced  in  a  British  form.  The  battle  he 
had  challenged  now  began :  stones,  earth,  rotten 
eggs,  dead  animals,  all  forms  of  offensive  missiles, 
were  hurled  at  him.  *'  My  soul,"  he  afterwards 
writes,  "  was  among  lions." 

At  six  in  the  evening  he  was  again  in  his  pulpit. 
The  crowd  was  many  thousands  larger  than  before. 


THE   WESLEYS    AND    WHITEFIELD.  189 

He  soon  drew  them  away  from  a  harlequin.  Lifting 
up  his  voice  hke  a  trumpet,  he  pushed  his  batter- 
ing-ram against  the  very  citadel  of  Satan. 

First  the  harlequin,  mounted  on  the  shoulders 
of  a  man,  tried  to  reach  him  with  a  long  whip. 
This  failed.  Then  a  recruiting-sergeant  was 
brought  on  the  field.  He  approached,  with  music 
and  some  straggling  followers,  directly  toward  the 
pulpit.  Whitefield,  in  the  calmness  of  faith,  and  in 
full  possession  of  his  humor,  and  in  the  full  knowl- 
edge of  the  passions  of  the  people,  cried  out, 
"Make  way  for  the  king's  officer!"  The  people 
opened  a  road  through  their  dense  mass.  The 
sergeant  passed  on ;  the  ranks  clo.sed  up  again ; 
and  the  preacher  remained  master  of  the  field. 

A  third  attack  was  made.  This,  too,  failed.  At 
times  the  tumult  rose  like  the  roaring  of  the  sea, 
completely  drowning  the  preacher's  voice.  He 
would  then  call  on  his  brethren  around  him  to 
sing,  until  the  tumult  entirely  subsided.  He 
preached,  he  sang,  he  kept  his  ground  until  night 
drew  its  curtain  over  this  grand  field-day  of  Zion's 
King,  this  great  fight,  this  glorious  victory,  which 
puts  to  shame  the  cowardice  and  sluggishness  of 
our  day. 

The  triumph  was  complete.  Whitefield  moved 
from  the  field  to  celebrate  it  with  his  friends  in  the 
tabernacle  ;  and  great  were  the  spoils  then  exhibit- 
ed. More  than  a  thousand  notes  were  handed  to 
him,  requesting  prayers  for  those  that  day  brought 


190  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

under  conviction ;  and  three  hundred  were  soon 
received  into  the  Tabernacle  Church,  many  of  them 
what  he  denominated,  "the  Devil's  castaways." 

Let  us  now  observe  another  scene,  exhibiting 
in  another  light  the  noble  spirit  of  these  men. 
On  one  occasion  John  Wesley  went  with  John 
Nelson,  one  of  his  lay-preachers,  into  a  part  of 
Wales  not  yet  penetrated  by  Methodism.  Their 
bed  every  night  was  the  floor.  Nelson  says,  "  He 
had  my  great-coat  for  his  pillow ;  and  I  had  Bur- 
kitt's  Notes  on  the  New  Testament  for  mine. 
After  being  there  about  three  weeks,  one  morning, 
near  three  o'clock,  Mr.  Wesley  turned  over,  and 
clapped  me  on  the  side,  saying,  '  Brother  Nelson, 
let  us  be  of  good  cheer.  I  have  one  whole  side  yet : 
the  skin  is  off  only  one  side.'  "  Coming  from  one 
of  their  preaching-tours,  they  halted  to  pick  some 
blackberries.  Mr.  Wesley  remarked,  "  Brother  Nel- 
son, we  ought  to  be  thankful  that  there  are  plenty 
of  blackberries ;  for  this  is  the  best  country  I  ever 
saw  for  getting  a  stomach,  but  the  worst  I  ever 
saw  for  getting  food.  Do  the  people  think  that 
we  can  live  by  preaching } " 

When  John  Wesley  was  attacked  by  a  mob  at 
Wednesbury,  and  dragged  from  one  part  of  the 
town  to  another;  struck  at  by  a  bludgeon  several 
times,  but  unsuccessfully,  either  of  which  blows 
would  have  been  fatal ;  and  when,  at  length,  he 
received  a  powerful  blow  on  the  chest,  and  another 
on  the  mouth,  which  made  the  blood  gush  forth,  — 


THE   WESLEYS   AND   WHITEFIELD.  191 

he  declares  he  was  perfectly  calm,  absorbed  in 
thinking  of  the  movements  of  the  mob. 

Lay-preaching  and  field-preaching  were  thus  the 
first  prominent  instruments  of  their  work.  When 
some  converts  began  to  present  themselves,  Wesley 
strove  to  keep  them  within  the  pale  of  the  Angli- 
can Church.  But  when  he  found  himself  called  to 
organize  a  new  form  of  church  government,  a  new 
creed,  and  new  tactics,  his  great  organizing  talent 
found  its  sphere  ;  and  he  formed  his  classes,  bands, 
love-feasts,  itineracy,  schools,  tract-societies,  Sun- 
day schools,  and  foreign  missions. 

Now  let  us  glance  at  the  results  of  this  Revival, 
beginning  in  the  hearts  of  four  young  men  in 
Oxford  University. 

We  must  remember,  that,  when  these  young  men 
went  forth  to  open  this  new  page  of  the  Church's 
history,  there  was  scarcely  a  green  spot  in  Great 
Britain  or  Ireland.  The  only  exceptions,  perhaps, 
were  in  small  districts  in  Wales  and  Scotland. 
The  rest  was  certainly  a  spiritual  wilderness. 

The  first  result  we  trace  was  the  preaching  of 
George  Whitefield,  of  which  John  Newton  remarked, 
"  If  any  man  were  to  ask  me,  who,  as  a  preacher, 
was  the  second  of  all  I  had  heard,  I  should  be  at 
some  loss  ;  but,  in  regard  to  the  first,  Mr.  Whitefield 
so  far  exceeded  every  other  man,  that  I  should  be 
at  none.  He  was  the  original  of  popular  preaching  ; 
and  all  our  popular  ministers  are  only  his  copies. 
The  whole  evangelical  dissenting  Church  in  Eng- 
land feels  his  power  to-day." 


192  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

His  preaching  w^as  not  instructive,  so  far  as  that 
means  carrying  the  mind  onward  by  logical  steps 
from  one  doctrine  to  another.  It  was,  however, 
awakening,  impressive,  convincing,  converting. 
Greater  minds  had  methodically  exhibited  the  doc- 
trines of  Christianity,  they  had  logically  defended 
them  ;  but  Whitefield  made  a  more  important  use 
of  them  than  that.  His  oratory  penetrated  the 
citadel  in  which  Satan  holds  his  seat  of  power. 
Satan  employs  the  imagination,  the  affections,  the 
sensibilities,  of  man,  to  make  and  keep  him  a  rebel. 
This  servant  of  God  directed  his  artillery  against 
these  very  fortresses.  He  employed,  too,  with  pre- 
eminent skill,  the  weapons  God  has  furnished  his 
preachers  for  that  purpose.  He  employed  the 
whole  diapason  of  that  noblest  instrument,  the 
human  voice.  He  used  it  appropriately  to  give 
utterance  to  fervor,  earnestness,  pathos  ;  but  he 
did  not  employ  them  by  the  rules  of  any  school  of 
elocution.  With  magnificent  organs  of  speech,  and 
a  countenance  of  peculiar  flexibility,  he  uttered 
every  word  from  the  depths  of  a  heart  that  was 
held  perpetually  under  the  full  power  of  the  sub- 
lime truths  he  uttered.  He  was,  in  a  word,  an 
enthusiast,  but  not  a  fanatic. 

His  labors  did  not  originate  the  great  Revival  of 
1740  in  this  country.  But  it  had  declined  when  he 
came  to  Boston  ;  and  his  labors  were  the  instru- 
ment employed  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  give  it  that 
breadth  it  afterward  assumed.     The  Protestantism 


THE    WESLEYS    AND    WHITEFIELD. 


193 


of  America  had  been  said,  and  with  much  truth, 
to  have  *'  taken  its  subsequent  character  from  it ; 
and  the  Holy  Club  of  Oxford  may  be  recognized  as 
historically  connected"  with  the  evangelical  Chris- 
tianity of  all  this  continent." 

Then,  besides  this  great  apostle  of  the  modern 
Church,  there  was  raised  up,  under  this  Revival  in 
Oxford,  a  band  of  as  noble  preachers  as  the  world 
had  seen  since  the  first  century,  if  we  estimate  it 
not  merely  by  learning,  but  also  by  zeal,  courage, 
fortitude,  power  to  affect  men.  Their  lay-preachers, 
taken  from  the  humblest  ranks,  without  a  liberal, 
or  often  scarcely  any  education,  were  a  greater 
blessing  to  England  than  thousands  who  have 
received  the  diploma  of  her  universities.  John  Nel- 
son, David  Taylor,  Thomas  Maxfield,  were  Boa- 
nerges ;  and  doubtless  their  names  now  stand  high 
on  the  roll  of  honor  above. 

Then  Fletcher,  Berridge,  Ven,  Romaine,  Harris, 
Lady  Huntington,  Lady  Hastings,  Lord  St.  John, 
and  a  great  company  besides,  from  the  ranks  of  the 
national  clergy  and  from  the  upper  ranks  of  society, 
testify  to  the  amazing  extent  and  power  of  this 
Revival. 

The  effect  of  this  stupendous  movement  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  through  men  in  whom  he  dwelt  to 
an  uncommon  degree,  can  scarcely  be  overrated. 
English  society  was  checked  in  its  rapid  descent 
toward,  nay,  attainment  to,  a  state  of  morals  which 
Thackeray  and  Massey  and  Macaulay  alike  describe 


194  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

as  equal  in  baseness  to  that  of  the  old  Roman 
empire,  or  that  of  the  old  French  monarchy.  "  The 
popular  classes  were  even  more  corrupt  than  dur- 
ing the  undisguised  profligacy  of  the  Restoration." 
This  downward  tendency  was  checked  by  this 
Revival. 

If  we  come  'to  statistics,  we  find  at  Wesley's 
death,  in  fifty  years,  these  results  attained :  five 
hundred  and  fifty  itinerant  preachers,  thousands  of 
local  preachers,  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  members. 

Then  let  us  hear  the  testimony  of  two  able 
writers,  connected  with  neither  Calvinistic  nor 
Arminian  Methodism. 

Dr.  Dobbin  of  Dublin  University  says,  "  There 
were  no  Bible,  tract,  or  missionary  societies  then, 
to  employ  the  Church's  powers,  and  indicate  its 
path  of  duty.  But  Wesley  started  them  all.  He 
wrote,  printed,  and  circulated  books  in  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  copies :  he  set  on  foot  home 
and  foreign  missions.  The  Church  and  the  world 
were  alike  asleep :  he  sounded  the  trumpet  of  the 
gospel,  and  awaked  the  Church  to  work.  Never 
was  there  such  a  scene  before  in  this  land.  The 
correctness  and  maturity  of  his  views,  amid  the 
deep  darkness  surrounding  him,  are  startling,  won- 
derful, like  the  idea  of  a  Catholic  church  springing 
up  amid  a  sectarian  Judaism.  It  is  mid-day,  with- 
out the  antecedent  dawn.     It  defies  explanation." 

Isaac  Taylor  says,  "  The  Methodism  of  the  last 


THE   WESLEYS   AND   WHITEFIELD.  195 

century,  even  when  considered  apart  from  its  con- 
sequences, must  always  be  thought  worthy  of  the 
most  serious  regard.  But,  in  fact,  that  great  reh- 
gious  movement  has,  immediately  or  remotely,  so 
given  an  impulse  to  Christian  feeling  and  profes- 
sion on  all  sides,  that  it  has  come  to  present  itself 
as  the  starting-point  of  our  modern  religious  his- 
tory. The  field-preaching  of  Wesley  and  White- 
field,  in  1739,  was  the  event  whence  the  religious 
epoch  now  current  must  date  its  commencement. 
Back  to  the  events  of  that  time  must  we  look, 
necessarily,  as  often  as  we  seek  to  trace  to  its 
source  what  is  most  characteristic  of  the  present 
time." 


EIGHTH    LECTURE. 

Jonathan  Edwards,  and  the  Revival  of  1740 
IN  America. 

This  view  of  the  origin  of  Methodism  has  neces- 
sarily brought  before  us  the  Revival  in  this  country, 
dating  from  1 740,  of  which  we  must  now  take  more 
particular  notice,  and  especially  of  one  of  its  instru- 
ments. 

Jonathan  Edwards  was  born  in  a  wilderness, 
whose  only  relation  to  the  civilized  world  was  that 
of  an  obscure  colony.  His  education  was  such  as 
could  be  furnished  by  a  little  college  which  was 
struggling  to  keep  itself  in  existence.  Now  a 
humble  frontier  pastor,  now  a  humble  missionary 
among  savage  tribes,  he  became,  at  length,  a  leader 
in  the  sphere  of  thought,  especially  theological 
thought,  and  a  prodigious  spiritual  force  in  this 
embryo  nation. 

Yet,  if  his  educational  advantages  were  inferior 
to  those  of  our  day,  he  had  advantages,  which,  as  a 
nation,  we  have  lost,  and  which  go  far  to  counter- 
balance this  want.  His  home  was  the  school  in 
which  God  prepared  him  for  his  important  work  in 
196 


THE   REVIVAL   OF    1740.  I97 

the  Church;  and  if  the  extreme  advocates  of 
woman,  who  claim  for  her  a  full  share  of  man's 
responsibilities,  exposures,  toils,  and  rewards,  would 
study  such  histories  as  that  of  Mrs.  Edwards,  they 
might  see  reasons  for  modifying  some  of  their 
views  on  the  subject. 

The  mother  of  Jonathan  Edwards  was  a  diligent;^ 
student  of  the  Bible,  much  attached  to  its  doc^ 
trines  ;  and  she  was  his  teacher.  The  government 
of  the  family  was  strict,  but  affectionate.  Young 
Edwards  grew  to  manhood  in  an  atmosphere  of 
piety,  refinement,  affection,  and  intelligence.  Their 
family  entertainment  was  derived  chiefly  from  the 
intercourse  of  refined,  intelligent,  and  affectionate 
spirits,  and  from  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the 
works,  word,  and  character  of  God. 

In  youth  he  formed  habits  which  contributed 
greatly  to  his  subsequent  usefulness.  He  was  an 
earnest  observer  of  the  Creator's  works.  He  was 
a  diligent  student  of  the  Scriptures,  generally  read- 
ing with  pen  in  hand.  He  was  an  earnest  observer 
of  providence,  or  God's  control  of  human  affairs. 
He  accustomed  himself  to  deep  logical  reflection, 
tracing  specific  facts  to  general  laws,  and  seeing 
things  in  their  rational  order.  He  was  a  man  of 
prayer,  and  a  powerful  preacher. 

In  1727  he  became  the  colleague  of  his  grand- 
father Stoddard,  over  the  church  in  Northampton. 
Mr.  Stoddard  had  been  blessed  with  five  Revivals ; 
but  there  had  been  a  sad  declension,  until  in  1732 


198  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

there  w2ls  observed  a  check  in  the  downward 
tendency  of  the  religious  spirit  of  Northampton. 
Levity  in  the  youth  was  manifestly  diminishing. 
One  sermon  of  Mr.  Edwards  had  reference  to  some 
prevalent  evils,  which  the  young  people  consented 
to  abandon.  Early  in  1734  the  religious  interest 
had  so  increased  as  to  lead  the  young  people  to 
form  weekly  meetings  for  prayer.  The  pastor's 
feelings  were  rising  with  the  sacred  impulse  all  had 
felt.  His  sermons  grew  in  solemnity,  spirituahty, 
and  effectiveness.  He  met  with  words  of  power 
the  speculative  errors,  as  well  as  the  misdeeds,  of 
the  day.  His  sermon  on  "  Regeneration  a  Divine 
Light  imparted  Supernaturally  to  the  Soul  "was 
very  effective. 

The  year  1735  opened  in  Northampton  as  the 
dawning  of  a  new  era.  The  king  had  ascended 
his  chariot,  and  was  riding  over  the  field  a  con- 
queror. Mr.  Edwards  says,  "  The  town  was  never 
so  full  of  love,  nor  so  full  of  joy,  yet  never  so 
full  of  distress,  as  then."  But  this  great  work 
soon  declined,  probably  from  the  indulgence  of  ex- 
cessive physical  excitement ;  and  perhaps  because 
the  limits  of  convertible  persons  had  been  reached ; 
and  prominently  from  an  unhappy  controversy  in 
Springfield  about  ordaining  a  pastor,  which  agitated 
all  Berkshire. 

We  have  some  of  the  sermons  then  so  effective. 
They  are  on  these  topics  :  "  Justification  by  Faith 
alone,"    "Pressing  into   the   Kingdom,"    "Ruth's 


THE    REVIVAL   OF    I740-  199 

Resolution,"  "The  Justice  of  God  in  the  Damna- 
tion of  Sinners,"  "The  Excellency  of  Christ." 

He  took  higher  and  clearer  positions  in  directing 
inquirers  than  had  been  adopted  by  his  brethren. 
He  urged  repentance  on  every  sinner  as  his  im- 
mediate duty :  he  insisted  that  God  is  under  no 
manner  of  obligation  to  any  impenitent  soul ;  that 
a  man  can  challenge  nothing,  either  in  absolute 
justice  or  by  free  promise,  on  account  of  any 
thing  he  does  before  repenting  and  believing. 

In  the  spring  of  1740  there  was  a  perceptible 
and  favorable  change  in  public  feeling.  A  growing 
seriousness  was  manifest,  until,  in  October,  Mr, 
Whitefield  came  to  Northampton,  and  preached  five 
sermons.  A  new  impulse  was  given  by  these  ;  and, 
in  the  spring  of  1741,  religion  had  become  the 
object  of  general  attention.  The  tide  of  life 
rolled  on  with  accumulated  force,  mingled  with 
some  extravagant  physical  demonstrations.  It 
abated  again  in  the  autumn.  In  February,  1742, 
Mr.  Buell  preached  there  with  wonderful  effect. 
But  Satan  took  advantage  of  the  physical  excite- 
ment then  indulged  in.  In  March  Mr.  Edwards 
drew  up  a  very  solemn  covenant  with  God,  which 
the  people  signed. 

His  influence  in  purifying  Revivals,  enlightening 
the  people  on  the  nature  of  true  piety,  on  its 
counterfeits,  on  various  practical  points,  was  very 
great  and  very  salutary.  His  vindication  of  Revivals 
saved  many  a  good  and  eminent  man  from  joining 


200  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

the  enemies  of  God  in  opposing  them,  from  hear- 
say. 

His  treatise  on  the  religious  affections,  which, 
perhaps,  young  converts  may  misapply  to  their 
own  discouragement,  gave  a  powerful  check  to  the 
indulgence  of  false  hopes,  which,  in  the  absence  of 
discriminating  instruction  of  the  awakened,  Satan 
will  so  often  secure. 

Before  leaving  this  sketch,  it  may  be  serv^iceable 
to  present  to  you  Mr.  Edwards's  statement  of  a 
providential  occurrence  contributing  to  advance 
the  celebrated  Revival.  He  says,  ''  In  the  month 
of  April,  1734,  there  happened  a  very  sudden  and 
awful  death  of  a  man  in  the  bloom  of  youth.  The 
sermon  preached  at  his  funeral  affected  many. 
This  was  followed  by  the  death  of  a  young  married 
woman.  In  the  beginning  of  her  illness,  she  was 
greatly  distressed  about  the  salvation  of  her  soul, 
but  seemed  to  obtain  satisfactory  evidence  of  God's 
saving  mercy,  and  in  a  most  earnest  and  moving 
manner  counselled  and  warned  others.  This 
seemed  much  to  affect  many  young  persons,  and 
increased  the  religious  concern  on  their  minds. 
It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  December,  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  began  to  act  in,  and  wonderfully  to 
work  among  us.  Soon  the  noise  among  the  dry 
bones  waxed  louder  and  louder.  The  work  of 
conversion  was  then  carried  on  in  the  most  aston- 
ishing manner.  Souls  did,  as  it  were,  come  by 
flocks  to  Jesus  Christ.     It  made  such  a  glorious 


THE    REVIVAL   OF    1740.  20I 

alteration  in  the  town,  that,  in  the  following  spring 
and  summer  (1735),  the  town  seemed  to  be  full  of 
the  presence  of  God.  I  hope  that  more  than  three 
hundred  have  been  brought  home  to  Christ  in  this 
town  (a  population  of  eleven  hundred)  in  the  space 
of  half  a  year." 

Young  and  old  shared  alike  this  heavenly  in- 
fluence ;  the  work  extending  to  South  Hadley  and 
the  surrounding  towns.  Then  (in  1740)  came  the 
so-called  great  awakening,  in  which  Edwards 
labored  so  efficiently  with  Whitefield,  Bellamy,  the 
Tenants,  Blair,  Gilbert,  Davies,  Parsons,  and  others, 
—  a  Revival  which  stamped  a  new  character  on  the 
people  of  this  country,  and  prepared  them  for  the 
horrors  of  the  devastating  war  with  Great  Britain. 

But  it  would  scarcely  give  you  a  complete  im- 
pression of  this  gracious  work  of  the  Spirit,  in 
which  one  man  was  made  so  extensively  and  emi- 
nently useful,  if  we  did  not  keep  in  view  that  emi- 
nent holiness  which  was  the  vital  element  of  his 
power. 

He  states  that  once,  when  reading  this  passage, 
"  Now  unto  the  King,  eternal,  immortal,  invisible, 
the  only  wise  God,  be  honor  and  glory  for  ever  and 
ever.  Amen,"  there  came  over  his  spirit,  and,  as  it 
were,  diffused  through  it,  a  sense  of  the  glory  of 
the  divine  Being.  "  I  thought  within  myself,  how 
excellent  a  Being  that  is,  and  how  happy  I  should 
be  if  I  might  enjoy  that  God,  and  be  rapt  up  to 
him  in  heaven,  and  be,  as  it  were,  swallowed  up  in 
him  forever ! 


202  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

"  I  began,  about  that  time,  to  have  a  new  kind  of 
apprehension  of  Christ  and  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion, and  the  glorious  way  of  salvation  by  him. 
An  inward  sweet  sense  of  these  things  at  times 
came  into  my  heart,  and  my  soul  was  led  away  in 
pleasant  contemplations  of  them.  The  sense  I 
had  of  divine  things  would  often,  of  a  sudden, 
kindle  an  ardor  in  my  soul  that  I  knew  not  how  to 
express.  As  I  was  walking,  and  looking  at  the  sky 
and  clouds,  there  came  into  my  mind  a  sweet  sense 
of  the  glorious  majesty  and  grace  of  God,  that  I 
knew  not  how  to  express,  —  majesty  and  meekness 
joined  together :  it  was  a  sweet,  gentle,  holy 
majesty,  and  also  a  majestic  meekness,  a  high, 
great,  and  holy  gentleness. 

"The  holiness  of  God  has  always  appeared  to  me 
the  most  lovely  of  all  his  attributes.  The  doctrine 
of  God's  sovereignty  and  free  grace  in  showing 
mercy  to  whom  he  would  show  mercy,  and  man's 
absolute  dependence  on  the  operations  of  God's 
Holy  Spirit,  have  often  appeared  to  me  as  great 
and  glorious  doctrines.  There  was  no  part  of 
creature  holiness  of  which  I  had  so  great  a  sense 
of  its  loveliness,  as  humility,  brokenness  of  heart, 
and  poverty  of  spirit ;  and  there  was  nothing  I  so 
earnestly  longed  for.  My  heart  panted  after  this  : 
to  lie  low  before  God,  as  in  the  dust,  that  I  might 
be  nothing,  that  God  might  be  all." 

Now,  it  is  possible  some  may  regard  all  or  much 
of  this  as  mere  sentiment  or  sentimentality.     Such 


PASTOR    HARMS.  203 

persons  would  do  well  to  read  Edwards  on  the 
Affections,  in  which  he  shows  that  a  large  portion 
of  our  religious  exercises  is  sentiment.  Love,  joy, 
godly  sorrow,  gratitude,  humility,  hope,  trust,  are 
all  sentiments.  Praise  is  the  expression  of  two 
sentiments,  —  adoration  and  thankfulness.  Prayer  is 
the  expression  of  two  feelings,  —  desire  and  trust. 

But  if  any  one  thinks  Edwards  was  a  dreaming 
sentimentalist,  let  him  grapple  with  the  great 
metaphysician  on  questions  like  original  sin  and 
moral  freedom,  and  try  whether  it  is  so  ;  not, 
indeed,  that  we  may  regard  Edwards  as  having 
reached  a  true  position  on  either  of  these  momen- 
tous subjects.  I  speak  here  only  of  his  intellectual 
strength.  No :  the  stimulus  to  every  high  and 
noble  action  is  a  sentiment.  The  soul  of  enterprise, 
the  essence  of  enthusiasm,  the  power  of  eloquence, 
is  sentiment :  the  swelling  worship  of  heaven, 
rolling  its  tides  of  song  like  "the  sound  of  many 
waters,"  is  the  outpouring  of  hearts  in  strains  not 
dissimilar  to  that  of  this  eminent  saint.  If  you 
ever  lead  the  exercises  of  a  Revival,  you  will  find  it 
making  large  drafts  upon  the  heart's  treasures  of 
sympathy,  solicitude,  and  thankfulness. 

Another  laborer  now  comes  to  view,  one  of  our 
own  times,  just  passed  to  his  rest  and  reward,  — 

PASTOR    HARMS, 

who  had  less  demand  for  the  martyr-spirit  than 
Huss,  for    the  belligerent  spirit  than   Luther,  for 


204  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

the  fervid  eloquence  that  captivates  strangers  than 
Whitefield  ;  but  who  had,  with  them,  all  the  same 
self-sacrificing  consecration  to  the  glory  of  his 
Redeemer,  and  to  the  eternal  welfare  of  men, 
taking  on  itself,  in  his  circumstances,  the  type  of 
daily  earnestness  in  a  humble  sphere,  but  per- 
haps most  distinguished  by  his  apostolical faitJi. 

Louis  Harms  was  born  in  the  then  kingdom  of 
Hanover,  near  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. Fond  of  genealogical  and  antiquarian  inves- 
tigations, he  traced  his  pedigree  back  to  one  of 
the  three  mighty  Hermanns,  which  of  them  he  has 
not  told  us.  His  physical  and  mental  structures 
were  unique ;  having  a  powerful  and  athletic  body, 
and  a  robust  spirit. 

Bringing  to  the  pastoral  work  this  physical  vigor, 
and  a  constitution  harmoniously  developed  by  manly 
exercises,  he  was  able  to  bear  an  enormous  load 
of  care,  and  to  accomplish  a  prodigious  work. 

His  eminent  characteristic  was  faith ;  his  emi- 
nent acquirement,  the  spirit  of  prevailing  prayer. 
Like  Israel,  he  was  powerful  with  man,  because 
powerful  with  God.  Giving  himself  up  to  be  filled 
with  God's  Spirit,  and  used  for  God's  purposes,  he 
had  God's  power  in  his  actions. 

His  view  of  prayer  and  his  use  of  it  are  strongly 
exhibited  in  one  of  his  enterprises.  An  immense 
difficulty,  impossibility  unbelief  would  have  called 
it,  met  •  him.  Thus  he  describes  his  course : 
**Then   I   knocked  diligently  on  the  dear  God    in 


PASTOR    HARMS.  205 

prayer ;  and,  since  the  praying  man  dares  not  sit 
with  his  hands  in  his  lap,  I  did,"  &c.  Then 
came  relief,  and  then  another  difficulty.  Of  that 
he  thus  speaks :  "  That  was  a  time  of  great  con- 
flict, and  I  wrestled  with  God ;  for  no  one  encour- 
aged me,  but  the  reverse ;  and  the  truest  friends 
and  brethren  hinted  that  I  was  not  quite  in  my 
senses.  I  prayed  fervently  to. the  Lord,  laid  the 
matter  in  his  hand  ;  and,  as  I  arose  at  midnight 
from  my  knees,  I  said  with  a  voice  that  almost 
startled  me  in  the  great  room,  '  Forward  now,  in 
God's  name'  " 

The  purpose  then  formed  became  a  life-purpose, 
to  be  carried  out  with  all  the  intensity  of  his  heart 
and  the  inflexibility  of  his  will. 

With  his  other  qualities,  subordinated  to  these 
master  elements  of  his  character,  we  have  not 
much  to  do.  He  had  a  rough,  natural,  rustic  elo- 
quence, suited  to  his  audience,  saying  always  the 
true  thing  in  appropriate  phrase  and  with  the 
appropriate  feeling.  He  loved  his  country,  his 
county,  and  his  village  intensely.  This  gives  a 
pastor  whom  the  people  respect  a  strong  hold  upon 
their  affections.  The  suspicion  that  he  looks  with 
disdain,  or  even  indifference,  on  his  people  or  their 
place,  paralyzes  his  influence.  Indeed,  his  flock 
become  his  children,  all  regarding  him  as  a  father. 

When  Mr.  Harms  entered  upon  his  pastoral 
work  in  that  parish,  a  dead  orthodoxy  was  paralyz- 
ing its  spiritual  life.  But  he  went  there  with  a 
18 


2o6  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

single  purpose,  —  a  purpose  inspired  by  a  living 
faith,  v^hich  took  possession  of  his  entire  being. 
He  had  no  side  objects  to  sap  his  strength,  no  ulte- 
rior points  to  which  the  pastorate  of  Hermannsburg 
was  a  stepping-stone,  as  many  make  their  first  pas- 
torates, and  thus  sometimes  lower  the  tone  of  their 
ministry  through  life.  He  entered  a  waste  place 
in  his  Lord's  dominion,  and  determined  to  make  a 
garden  of  it,  and  so  to  report  when  summoned  to 
render  his  account  of  service. 

To  accomplish  this,  his  labors  were  incessant. 
He  spent  twelve  hours  a  day  over  his  books  or 
correspondence,  writing  about  three  thousand  let- 
ters annually.  Indeed,  he  would  have  been  impru- 
dent in  these  excessive  labors,  but  for  the  peculiar 
necessity  he  had  for  mental  labor,  as  a  painful  dis- 
ease made  sleep  impossible  through  many  a  night. 

His  work  consisted  in  preaching  three  times  on 
Sunday,  expounding  the  Scriptures,  catechising  the 
whole  congregation,  conducting  a  prayer-meeting 
every  evening  in  his  house,  almost  daily  having 
two  meetings  for  inquirers  about  both  their  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  affairs. 

Besides  all  this,  with  studying  and  letter-writing, 
he  organized  the  congregation  into  a  missionary 
society,  sending  out  their  own  members  to  the  for- 
eign field ;  building  for  themselves  a  mission-ship, 
which  they  kept  continually  passing  from  Hanover 
to  the  stations  in  Africa ;  editing  a  monthly  mis- 
sionary journal,  of  which  fourteen  thousand  were 


y 


PASTOR    HARMS.  207 

published  ;  training  the  missionaries  for  their  work ; 
and,  finally,  superintending  an  establishment  for 
discharged  convicts. 

The  story  of  his  missionary  work  is  long  and 
wonderful,  but  not  now  to  our  purpose,  except  so 
far  as  relates  to  the  effect  of  his  various  labors  in 
arousing  his  people  from  their  state  of  spiritual 
torpor  to  become  a  band  of  missionaries. 

Now  look  at  the  garden  thus  reclaimed  from  the 
wilderness. 

"The  parish  is  ten  miles  square,  containing  seven 
villages,  and  forty-four  hundred  inhabitants.  From  \ 
these  villages,  men,  women,  and  children  come 
flocking  to  their  sanctuary,  —  a  thousand  at  a  time 
on  Sunday,  and  four  hundred  on  Wednesday, — 
all  well  clothed,  as  grace  has  put  an  end  to  the  race 
of  beggars  in  Hermannsburg.  An  altar  to  the  liv- 
ing God  stands  under  every  roof.  When  Prof. 
Park  inquired  of  his  landlord  whether  there  were 
any  unbelievers  in  the  place,  his  reply  was,  '  Yes, 
there  is  one.' 

"  The  people  are  accustomed  to  pause  three  times 
a  day  at  the  sound  of  a  bell,  at  home  or  in  the 
street,  in  the  market  or  a  wedding-procession, 
and  offer  a  brief  prayer.  The  annual  missionary 
festival  draws  large  numbers  of  people  from  a  dis- 
tance. It  is  a  jubilee-day  in  the  village,  showing 
that  the  people's  hearts  are  fully  enlisted  in  the 
Redeemer's  cause." 

In  a  word,  then,  pastor  Harms  was  a  Revivalist. 


2o8  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

\  His  pastorate  of  seventeen  years  was  one  constant 
-^  Revival ;  and  probably  not  a  parish  in  Christendom 
equals  in  spiritual  attainment  that  of  Hermanns- 
burg.  One  writer  puts  the  communicants,  in  all, 
at  eleven  thousand.  Prof.  Park  regards  this  as  an 
overestimate.  They  make  one  Christian  family ; 
and  their  influence  is  a  blessing  over  a  wide  sur- 
rounding district.  Their  houses  are  neater  than 
those  of  their  neighbors.  Drunkenness  and  pov- 
erty are  unknown  there.  Kindness  and  gentleness 
characterize  their  social  intercourse. 

Here  is  a  model  for  the  candidates  for  the 
sacred  office  of  pastor.  Here  is  the  true  goal  of 
ministerial  aspirations  and  efforts,  —  to  take  a  Her- 
mannsburg  of  1845,  and  make  it  that  of  1865  ;  not 
^~"  to  make  the  end  of  life  the  composing  great  ser- 
mons, but  securing  great  piety ;  not  to  acquire 
knowledge  or  mental  culture  as  ultimate  ends,  but 
chiefly  as  instruments  of  training  men  for  heaven. 
One  such  laborer,  even  in  some  humble  sphere, 
can  furnish  a  vast  contribution  to  that  fund  of 
moral  power  which  shall  recover  a  nation  like 
Germany  back  from  the  paths  of  anti-Christian 
philosophizing  into  which  her  teachers  have  led 
her. 

A  few  minds  endowed  with  high  intellectual 
power  are  sufficient  to  combat  the  heresiarch  in 
the  schools ;  but  it  requires  thousands  of  less 
eminent  intellectual  powers,  filled  with  the  spirit 
of  Christ,  to  go  among  the  people,  and  convince 


EDWARD   PAYSON.  2Qg 

them  of  their  need  of  a  Saviour,  and  of  his  will- 
ingness and  ability  to  save  them.  Heresy  in  a 
few  great  thinkers  does  not  do  as  much  mischief 
to  the  bulk  of  mankind  as  coldness  and  selfishness 
in  our  ranks. 

EDWARD    PAYSON. 

There  is  now  a  name  which  deserves  a  rank 
among  the  elders,  who  by  faith  have  obtained  a 
good  report,  in  whom  we  have  a  right  to  feel  a 
special  interest  from  the  incidental  fact  that  he  was 
a  New-Englander,  living  in  our  day, —  Dr.  Edward 
Payson,  recently  pastor  of  a  church  in  Portland, 
Me.  His  official  course  was  crowned  with  eminent 
success.  It  is,  perhaps,  not  exaggeration  in  regard 
to  them,  nor  injustice  to  any  other,  to  say  that  two 
men,  Jotham  Sewall  and  Edward  Payson,  were 
God's  instruments  to  give  type  and  tone  to  the 
character  of  that  State.  Sewall  was  an  artisan 
until  he  had  reached  mature  age,  and  therefore 
cannot,  in  many  respects,  be  ranked  with  his 
brother,  the  cultivated  graduate  of  Harvard,  as  a 
preacher. 

Let  us  notice  the  sources  and  instruments  of 
Payson's  power.  4 

T/ie  sources  of  his  power  were  mainly  in  the 
heart,  partly  intellectual.  First  of  all  may  be 
placed  his  sincerity,  concentration  of  purpose,  or 
singleness  of  heart. 

Sincerity  is  a  power,  even  in  a  world  abounding 

1 8* 


210  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

in  falsehood  and  insincerity.  When  Mr.  Payson 
determined  to  enter  the  holy  office,  he  understood 
it  to  be  an  office  admitting  no  compromise,  no 
division  of  attention,  no  selfish  purpose.  He  was, 
with  Paul,  crucified  to  the  world,  "  set  apart  to  the 
gospel."  If  we  dared  to  judge  him,  we  should  say 
he  erred  in  judgment  in  the  extent  of  his  fastings. 
But  the  man  who  condemns  him  ought  to  prove  by 
his  own  example  that  a  more  comfortable  line  of 
life  is  consistent  with  an  equal  elevation  of  life. 
Jealous  of  his  own  heart,  he  strove  to  conquer  and 
guard  it  by  subjecting  it  and  the  body  to  the 
severest  discipline.  It  is  said  to  be  almost  incredi- 
ble what  abstinence  and  self-denial  he  underwent. 
He  devoted  twelve  hours  to  study,  two  to  devotion, 
two  to  relaxation,  two  to  meals  and  family-worship, 
and  six  to  sleep.  But,  finding  too  much  sloth  in 
this  arrangement,  he  reduced  the  six  hours  of 
sleep  to  four,  and  probably  starved  himself  into- 
exhaustion,  if  not  death. 

But,  JDrove  what  this  may  about  his  judgment, — 
it  reveals  one  secret  of  his  power,  —  his  sincerity. 
Payson  was  in  earnest.  He  fought  for  a  crown, 
he  ran  for  the  prize,  and  laid  aside  every  weight. 
The  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  lost  souls 
were  to  him  what  gold  and  power,  fame  and  pleas- 
ure, are  to  the  most  enterprising  of  earth.  The 
world  was,  by  the  cross,  as  effectually  crucified  to 
him,  probably,  as  to  Paul. 

Here  was  an  element   of    his  eloquence.     Men 


EDWARD   PAYSON.  211 

felt  that  he  lived  near  God ;  was  seeking  their 
highest  good,  regardless  of  its  cost  to  himself; 
that  he  bowed  his  understanding  to  the  word  of 
God  implicitly ;  that  what  he  said  to  them  he 
obtained  by  an  honest,  earnest,  prayerful  searching 
for  truth. 

No  man  can  imitate  this,  no  elocutionist  can 
teach  it.  The  heart  is  the  only  master  in  this 
branch  of  oratory.  He  preached  against  sin, 
because  he  hated  it.  ''  The  guilt  and  pollution  of 
it  were,  beyond  expression,  hateful  to  him.  He 
dreaded  its  contamination  more  than  death,  more 
than  the  gnawings  of  the  never-dying  worm. " 
That  is  a  power.  You  preach  to  men  about  the 
torments  of  the  damned ;  and  it  is  far  off  in  time, 
with  nothing  in  experience  or  consciousness  to 
make  it  real ;  so  that  they  can  generally  sit  unmoved 
in  hearing  you.  But,  when  you  hate  the  pride  and 
selfishness  and  ungodliness  that  you  have-  experi- 
enced in  yourself,  you  strike  a  chord  in  many 
which  cannot  be  ^reached  by  exciting  the  fear  of 
suffering. 

His  heart-power,  moreover,  lay  in  his  enthusi- 
asm,  which  is  one  form  or  branch  of  faith.  As 
the  evidence  of  things  unseen,  it  is  the  vision 
of  the  glory  of  our  God,  the  loveliness  of  Christ, 
the  beauty  of  holiness,  the  magnificence  of  heaven 
and  its  inhabitants,  and  their  employments  and 
enjoyments.  One  says  of  his  sermons,  "  In  perus- 
ing them,  it  seems  as  if  their  author  had  actually 


212  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

seen  with  his  own  eyes  the  spiritual  objects  he 
describes ;  that  he  had  actually  heard  from  Christ, 
talking  with  him  face  to  face,  the  truths  which  he 
declares."  The  man  who  has  thus  seen  spiritual 
objects  does  not  deal  in  abstract  statements,  nor 
cold  and  formal  descriptions.  He  talks  in  the 
concrete,  and  with  a  glowing  heart.  He  makes 
every  thing  vivid  and  impressive.  When  Whitefield 
cried  out  after  the  ascending  angel  to  pause  in  his 
flight,  and  take  one  more  penitent's  name  to  record 
on  high,  men  started  to  look  for  its  effect  on  the 
angel. 

See  how  the  unseen  realities  affected  him  in  his 
retirement  from  others.  "  I  am  so  happy,  that  I 
cannot  possibly  think  nor  write  but  about  my 
feelings.  Such  a  glorious,  beautiful,  consistent 
scheme  for  the  redemption  of  such  miserable 
wretches  !  Such  infinite  love  and  goodness  joined 
with  such  wisdom  !  I  would,  if  possible,  raise  my 
voice,  so  that  the  whole  universe  might  hear  me, 
to  its  remotest  bound.  How  transporting,  and  yet 
how  humiliating,  are  the  displays  of  divine  good- 
ness !  Oh  !  I  long,  I  pant,  I  faint,  with  desire  to 
be  singing,  'Worthy  is  the  Lamb,'  to  be  casting 
the  crown  at  the  feet  of  Christ." 

When  he  saw  men  indifferent  to  their  salvation, 
it  moved  him  to  tears  ;  as  he  expressed  it,  "  a  spec- 
tacle which  made  the  heart  ache,  and  the  eyes 
weep."  His  ordinary  feehngs  about  the  Redeem- 
er's kingdom,  if  shared  by  many,  would  have  been 
a  perpetual  Revival. 


EDWARD   PAYSON.  213 

When  he  declares  he  "never  was  in  such  an 
agony  before  in  wrestHng  for  mercies,  especially  in 
behalf  of  poor  souls,  and  for  a  work  of  religion  in 
the  place,"  he  reveals  one  element  of  his  power  as 
a  preacher  and  laborer. 

Out  of  this  sprang  what  we  may  consider 
another  source  of  that  power,  —  his  pathos.  It  has 
been  said  that  much  of  Whitefield's  strength  lay 
there.  His  biographer  remarks,  "While  pathos, 
from  its  relation  to  the  natural  affections  and  to 
the  common  sorrows  of  men,  affords  to  any  orator 
his  chief  power,  from  its  congeniality  with  the 
religious  affections,  contrition,  trust  in  an  atone- 
ment made  by  suffering,  sympathy  with  erring 
man  and  perilled  souls,  and  the  tenderness  which 
essentially  belongs  to  all  religious  affections,  it  is, 
in  a  special  manner,  the  great  power  of  pulpit 
eloquence." 

We  see,  then,  this  portion  of  his  strength  in  lan- 
guage like  this  :  "  I  never  was  fit  to  say  a  word  to  a 
sinner,  except  when  I  had  a  broken  heart  myself, 
when  I  was  subdued  and  melted  into  penitence, 
and  felt  as  though  I  had  just  received  pardon 
to  my  own  soul,  and  when  my  heart  was  full  of 
tenderness  and  pity,  no  anger." 

And  we  may  notice  one  other  element  of  heart- 
power,  —  humility.  He  dreaded  nothing  more  than 
becoming,  through  his  popularity,  exalted  in  his 
own  eyes.  He  wrote  thus  to  a  friend,  "As  you 
suspect,  popularity  costs  me  dear ;  and,  did  it  not 


214  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

afford  me  the  means  of  being  more  extensively 
useful,  I  should  heartily  pray  to  be  delivered  from 
it  as  the  greatest  of  all  curses." 

The  power  of  humility  consists  partly  in  its  dis- 
arming opposition,  in  part  also  by  conciHating  to 
the  speaker  the  heart  aroused  to  oppose  the  truth. 

The  intellectual  power  of  Mr.  Payson  seems  to 
have  consisted  in  imagination,  knowledge,  and  tact. 
He  obtained  a  deep  acquaintance  with  the  human 
heart  by  the  very  diligent  study  of  his  own.  See 
one  specimen  of  his  keen  discernment  of  the  subtle 
workings  of  pride.  He  says,  "  When  young  Chris- 
tians make  confessions  not  called  for,  either  they 
wish  to  be  thought  very  humble,  and  to  possess 
great  knowledge  of  their  own  hearts  ;  or  they  think 
it  is  a  fault  which  has  been  perceived,  and  are 
willing  to  have  the  credit  of  having  discovered 
and  striven  against  it ;  or  they  confess  some  fault 
from  which  they  are  remarkably  free,  in  order  to 
elicit  a  compliment."  His  knowledge  of  God's 
word  was  extraordinary.  There  was  not  a  verse 
in  Scripture,  it  is  said,  upon  which  he  had  not 
formed  an  opinion,  after  examination. 

He  had  a  vigorous  imagination,  wisely  cultivated. 
Much  of  his  preaching  and  conversation  on  reli- 
gious subjects  was  parabolic  or  illustrative.  A 
good  illustration  is  a  good  sermon  in  itself.  This 
Dr.  Payson  understood. 

He  had  also  tact  in  devising  methods  of  impart- 
ing religious  instruction,  and  also  of  bringing  out 


EDWARD   PAYSON.  215 

the  expression  of  feeling,  and  so,  of  increasing  it. 
"  He  made  his  church  fasts  and  conferences,  next  to 
the  communion,  the  most  humbling,  melting,  and 
edifying  seasons  which  his  highly-favored  flock 
enjoyed."  He  was  continually  varying  his  mode 
of  approaching  and  winning  souls  to  a  higher  life. 

He  was  particularly  observant  of  current  events, 
and,  like  his  Master,  wove  them  into  his  discourses. 
From  the  visit  of  Lafayette  to  this  country  he 
drew  a  forcible  reply  to  the  objection  some  might 
make  to  an  invitation  he  was  giving  the  people  to 
unite  in  the  services  of  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer. 
He  remarked,  "  If  any  should  be  disposed  to  in- 
quire, with  the  Pharisees  of  old,  '  To  what  purpose 
is  this  waste  of  time  ? '  I  would  remind  them  of 
the  attention  we  lately  bestowed  on  an  earthly 
benefactor ; "  and  then  he  drew  the  parallel  very 
forcibly. 

Such  were  the  elements  of  his  power  as  an 
agent  in  the  hands  of  his  Lord.  What,  then, 
were  the  instruments  by  which  he  accomplished 
so  much  good  ?  To  speak,  first,  of  what  God  did 
for  him  to  fit  him  for  his  eminent  usefulness.  He 
was  a  great  sufferer ;  and  out  of  those  sufferings 
will  come  everlasting  joys  to  himself  and  to  thou- 
sands besides  him. 

But  to  speak  of  what  he  did  to  make  himself 
useful.  He  was  studious,  prayerful,  diligent.  You 
may  admit  that  a  pastor  of  a  church  in  a  city  of 
this  country,  who  assigns  twelve  hours  a  day  to 


2l6  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Study,  must  indeed  be  a  student.  He  kept  his 
mind  furnished  and  fresh  for  his  great  work.  He 
was  an  immensely  laborious  man,  miserly  of  min- 
utes for  his  Master's  service,  and  the  saving  of 
souls.     He  was  also  eminently  a  man  of  prayer. 

His  view  of  prayer  was,  that,  for  himself,  he 
could  not  live  safely  without  incessant  prayer ; 
not  always  on  his  knees,  but  always  staying  very 
near  the  mercy-seat,  and  visiting  it  very  frequently. 
Such  was  his  estimate  of  the  prayers  of  believers, 
that  he  aimed  to  form  little  groups  of  four  or  six 
persons,  who  should  meet  before  service  on  Sunday 
morning,  to  pray  for  a  blessing  on  the  minister 
and  his  labors  that  day. 

Thus  his  diary  describes  his  own  praying :  ''  Was 
enabled  to  agonize  in  prayer  for  myself  and  people, 
and  to  make  intercession  with  unutterable  groan- 
ings.  My  heart  and  flesh  cried  out  for  the  living 
God."  He  believed  that  nothing  brought  more 
glory  to  God  than  social  prayer. 

And  probably  the  indirect  influence  of  his  pub- 
lic prayers  was  even  greater  than  that  of  his 
preaching.  They  doubtless  prevailed  with  God, 
and  they  certainly  affected  men  very  profoundly. 

To  this  subject  the  attention  of  theological 
students  must  yet  be  turned,  as  it  probably  has  not 
yet  been.  .  It  is  not  liturgies  we  need,  but  the 
spirit  of  prayer,  obtained,  as  Payson  obtained  it, 
by  close  communion  with  God. 


REVIVALS    OF    OUR    DAY.  217 

f  Review. 

A  few  have  now  been  selected  out  of  the  noble 
band  of  leaders  in  these  momentous  eras  of  divine 
mercy,  not  for  the  purpose  of  exhausting  the  sub- 
ject, but  to  awaken  an  interest  which  may  lead  us 
to  seek  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  this  heroic 
race.  In  the  elements  of  their  character,  the 
motives  and  spirit  which  actuated  them,  the  pro- 
fessional principles  on  which  they  acted,  you  will 
find  the  most  powerful  stimulus  to  zeal,  and  the 
most  efficient  guides  in  your  professional  life. 

A  full  presentation  of  the  history  of  Revivals, 
both  genuine  and  spurious,  would  embrace  a  full 
examination  of  Quietism,  Quakerism,  Millenarian- 
ism,  Mormonism,  Perfectionism,  Spiritualism,  and 
Socialism.  A  complete  exhibition  of  the  biograph- 
ical department  of  our  subject  would  include,  of 
right,  all  who  have  ever  advanced  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  But,  strictly  speaking,  we  are  confined  to 
the  periods  of  visible  social  transition-periods,  and 
the  men  whose  agency  more  manifestly,  whether 
direct  or  indirect,  brought  about  those  transitions. 

It  is,  however,  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose 
to  have  taken  this  bird's-eye  view  of  church  his- 
tory. 

In  closing  this  historical  sketch,  the  inquiry  may 
naturally  be  made.  Are  Revivals  degenerating.? 
Are  we  coming  to  a  lower  type  of  Revivals  ?  Are 
ours  not  so  genuine,  so  profound,  so  resultant,  as 
those  of  former  times  ^ 


2l8  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Let  US  first  notice  what  meets  the  eye,  and  then 
reason  from  the  sensuous  to  the  spiritual.  Men 
are  not  now  so  long  under  conviction,  nor  under 
convictions  of  so  pungent  a  character,  as  formerly. 
There  are  more  children  brought  under  the  power 
of  this  social  impulse.  These  two  features,  in  many 
cases,  have  led  to  this  inquiry  about  degeneracy. 
Some  might  add,  there  is  less  appeal  to  fear.  We 
have  dropped  some  of  the  old  hymns,  —  "  Hark ! 
from  the  tombs  ;" — "  Oh,  there  will  be  mourning!" 
&c.  Is  this  a  sign  of  degeneracy  ?  Others  might 
add,  there  is  less  of  doctrinal  preaching.  Does 
this  indicate  that  less  scriptural  truth  is  exhibited, 
or  that  there  is  less  sympathy  with  that  truth  ? 
These  inquiries  should  be  met  in  a  very  serious  and 
candid  spirit. 

I  answer  them  all  with  reserve,  and  with  a 
right  to  reverse  my  own  decision  as  God  shall  fur- 
nish me  more  light.  They  involve  facts  of  the 
past  and  the  present  with  which  I  am  not  suffi- 
ciently conversant  to  give  a  fair,  comprehensive 
reply.  And  we  may  be,  like  men  in  the  cabin  of  a 
river-steamer,  floating  down  the  stream,  uncon- 
scious of  motion,  and  therefore  misapprehending 
our  position  at  any  particular  moment.  With 
these  qualifications,  I  reply  to  the  inquiries. 

In  the  first  place,  I  suggest  whether  we  ought 
not  to  comprehend  in  the  phrase,  "  Revivals  of  ozcr 
day!'  a  larger  chronological  field  than  ten,  twenty, 
or  even  fifty  years.     I  can  only  now  say,  on  that 


REVIVALS   OF    OUR   DAY.  219 

point,  that  there  are  periods  in  history  in  which 
the  various  phases  of  social  movements  are  to  be 
classified  by  centuries  ;  others  in  which  one  year 
presents  a  new  dynasty,  a  new  set  of  forces,  new 
influences,  new  causes  of  either  degeneracy  or  of 
advance. 

It  would  take  us  too  far  aside  to  attempt  now  to 
decide  whether  our  period  embraces  the  Whitefield- 
ian  Revivals,  or  not. 

To  enter,  then,  directly  upon  the  question.  The 
first  consideration  I  would  suggest  is  this  :  convic- 
tion at  Calvary  is  of  a  higher  type  than  conviction 
at  Sinai.  The  groans  of  an  unpardoned  sinner  at 
the  latter  are  pressed  out  by  fear;  sometimes, 
indeed,  by  aspirations  after  holiness  ;  but  the  tears 
of  a  pardoned  sinner  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  where 
his  guilt  was  expiated  spring  from  a  noble  foun- 
tain. It  is  true  that  some  of  the  most  eminent 
examples  of  piety  are  those  who  passed  through  a 
long  law-work,  as  it  has  been  denominated.  Luther 
and  Bunyan,  like  Jonah,  ''cried  out  of  the  belly 
of  hell."  They,  and  other  eminent  leaders  of  the 
Church,  were  moulded  to  statures  of  great  moral 
grandeur  when  poured  like  molten  iron  from  the 
furnace  into  the  gospel-mould.  But  Saul  of  Tarsus 
is  not  represented  as  going  through  such  a  process. 
And  many  in  our  own  day  might  be  named,  who 
have  done  eminent  service  for  Christ,  who  had 
neither  such  long  nor  such  agonizing  convictions. 

Then,  if   we   have   less   doctrinal   preaching,   I 


220  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

believe  we  have  more  biblical  preaching,  than 
formerly.  This  statement  needs  explanation.  The- 
ology is  the  classification  of  revealed  truth,  and  the 
metaphysical  vindication  of  that  truth.  It  deals 
with  the  understanding  and  the  logical  faculty 
alone.  It  consequently  removes  all  the  poetic  ele- 
ments of  inspiration,  takes  truth  out  of  the  connec- 
tions in  which  inspiration  placed  them,  and  foregoes 
all  the  power  of  Scripture  imagery,  or  the  represen- 
tation of  spiritual  truths  under  material  forms. 

That  this  is  an  immense  loss  to  an  audience 
assembling  constantly  to  hear  the  gospel  is  to  me 
manifest.  If  we  have  less  law  now,  I  am  inclined 
to  believe  we  hear  more  of  the  gospel. 

Yet  here  must  be  suggested  a  caution,  and  an 
exhortation  to  vigilance.  A  free  salvation  by  faith 
without  works,  a  Christ  offered  to  the  sinner  freely, 
every  moment :  this  is  the  gospel.  But  this  may 
become  so  misapprehended  by  our  audiences,  that 
we  shall  be  compelled  again  to  thunder  the  law  in 
all  the  rigid  purity  of  its  requirements  and  its 
tests,  and  in  its  awful  unveihng  of  the  wrath  of 
God.  Our  piety  becoming  effeminate,  we  may 
need  a  strong  tonic.  If  so,  bring  it  out,  and  in 
firmness  and  kindness  apply  it. 

But,  for  the  present,  we  seem  authorized  to  say 
that  the  image  of  Christ  is  just  as  brightly  and 
distinctly  observed  in  the  type  of  piety  of  the 
nineteenth  as  of  the  eighteenth  century.  There 
is  tenfold  more  beneficence  now  than   there  was 


REVIVALS   OF   OUR   DAY.  221 

then,   and   probably,  on  the  whole,  as  consistent 
Christian  walking. 

It  may  serve  to  confirm  this  view  to  notice  the 
experience   of    one   of    our   prominent    churches, 
whose  history  has  been  the  record  of  successive 
Revivals.     It  is  the  First  Church  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  . 
founded  in  1636   by  Messrs.  Hooker  and   Stone;- 
the  former,  one  of  the  most  eminent  pastors  New  ] 
England  ever  possessed,  eminent  in  all  that  makes 
the  efficient  minister  of  the  gospel,  —  piety,  talents, 
and  learning. 

The  labors  of  Thomas  Hooker  had  been  signally 
sealed  of  heaven  before  he  left  England.  His 
preaching,  and  that  of  Mr.  Stone  in  Hartford 
gave  rise  to  the  series  of  Revivals  which  have 
blessed  that  city  and  the  State.  After  the  decease 
of  these  distinguished  pastors,  the  Revivals  were 
not  infrequent. 

But  the  French  war,  followed  by  the  dark 
period  of  colonial  conflict  with  George  III.,  and 
the  flood  of  French  illuminism  which  followed, 
depressed  the  tone  of  religious  feeling  throughout 
the  land  ;  so  that  the  first  twenty  years  of  Dr. 
Strong's  pastorate  (from  1774  to  1794)  were  ap- 
parently very  unfruitful.  In  1795  the  Spirit  of 
God  began  again  to  quicken  the  church  in  Hart- 
ford and  other  towns.  To  this  succeeded  three 
other  seasons  of  marked  Revival  under  the  minis- 
try of  Dr.  Strong  ;  one  of  them  continuing  two 
years.  Dr.  Hawes  remarks,  that,  when  he  suc- 
19* 


222  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

ceeded  Dr.  Strong,  he  observed  the  happy  effects 
of  those  Revivals.  This  was  in  1818.  "  I  found 
the  fallow-ground  broken  up,  and  the  soil,  in  some 
good  measure,  prepared  to  receive  the  seed  of  the 
Word.  A  few  tokens  of  saving  mercy  were  be- 
stowed during  the  first  year." 

Again,  in  1820,  the  Spirit  descended  in  power 
upon  the  people;  and  a  work  of  mercy  ensued, 
probably  as  pure  and  thorough  as  that  church  ever 
witnessed.  Nearly  two  hundred  were  admitted  to 
the  church  that  year  ;  and  whoever  knew  Dr. 
Hawes  knows  that  they  Were  not  hastily  or  care- 
lessly taken  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Church. 
He  says,  "  Beyond  any  other  Revival  I  ever  wit- 
nessed, this  was  remarkable  for  a  kind  of  all-per- 
vading influence.  There  was  a  peculiar  tenderness 
and  susceptibility  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  A 
distinguished  physician,  meeting  me  in  the  street, 
remarked,  '  It  seems  as  if  the  atmosphere  is  full 
of  God's  presence  and  Spirit'  " 

Besides  this,  the  doctor  states  that  it  had  been 
his  privilege  to  witness  nine  other  seasons  of 
Revival,  of  various  extent. 

He  signalizes  one  which  gave  an  impulse  to 
many  persons,  ''  that  has  ever  since  borne  them  on 
in  a  more  cheerful,  happy,  useful  state  of  mind,  in 
the  path  of  duty,  and  to  heaven." 

Such  is  a  sketch  of  the  history  of  a  church  founded 
by  men  whose  labors  were  marked  in  producing 
Revivals ;   a  church  ever  since  under  the  labors  of 


REVIVALS    OF   OUR    DAY.  223 

men  of  the  same  type.  Has  the  First  Church  in 
Hartford  decHned  below  the  standard  of  the  days  of 
Hooker  ?  I  fully  believe  it  has  not :  certainly  it  is 
far  above  the  condition  into  which  it  sank  after  the 
period  of  Dr  Strong's  early  ministry,  when,  we  are 
informed,  the  number  of  professors  of  religion  was 
very  small,  and  they,  with  some  exceptions,  sadly 
wanting  in  spirituality.  No  religious  meetings  were 
held,  except  on  Sunday,  and  before  the  administra- 
tion of  the  eucharist.  Night-meetings,  as  they 
were  called,  were  regarded  as  a  public  scandal. 
At  the  same  time,  scepticism  and  immorality  in 
various  forms  were  exceedingly  prevalent. 

There  is,  then,  much  reason  to  believe  that  the 
notions  about  the  inferiority  of  present  to  former 
Revivals  is  but  another  exhibition  of  that  spirit 
which  the  preacher  thus  reproves  :  "  Say  not  thou, 
What  is  the  cause  that  the  former  days  were  better 
than  these  ?  For  thou  dost  not  inquire  wisely  con- 
cerning this ; "  *  and  yet  I  shall  do  the  same  at  our 
next  interview ;  on  another  ground,  however. 

*  EccL  vii.  10. 


NINTH    LECTURE. 

§  V.  —  Practical  Survey. 

Now  we  pass  on,  from  theories  and  outside  sur- 
veys of  our  subject,  to  discover  our  own  con- 
nections with  it.  And  for  this  purpose  we  may 
consider  its  four  stages,  —  preparing  for,  waiting 
for,  laboring  in,  closing,  a  Revival.  We  begin 
with,  — 

I.  Preparing  for  a  Revival. 

What  are  the  essential  steps  ?  Some  of  them 
are  purely  internal.     Such  is,  — 

I.  Faith  in  the  special,  supernatural,  sovereign 
agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  in  the  absolute  need 
of  his  agency. 

If  you  have  any  theories  or  questionings  which 

prevent  the  full  belief  of  any  truth  whatever,  so  far 

that  truth  must  fail  to  affect  the  sensibilities,  or  to 

become  a  stimulus  to  specific  action.     The  peril 

of  a  liberal   course  of  study  to   the   simplicity  of 

faith  is  sometimes  very  great.     You  cannot  begin 

to  start  inquiries  which  throw  every  thing  open  to 

logical  inquiry  without  peril.    It  has  made  men  fools 
224 


PRACTICAL   SURVEY.  22$ 

in  the  affairs  of  common  life,  and  often  destroyed 
them  as  beings  created  pre-eminently  to  be,  not 
logicians,  but  children  of  God.  If  you  are  to  dig 
under  the  foundation-wall  of  your  house,  and  live  in 
it  until  you  have  proved  by  science  that  it  may  be 
trusted  to  stand,  you  may  find  the  house  in  ruins, 
and  yourself  buried  under  them,  before  the  sci- 
entific question  is  determined.  Live  near  your 
Saviour  while  you  are  fighting  the  Philistines,  or 
making  a  guest  of  scepticism. 

To  you  these  facts  must  stand  out  like  the 
objects  seen  in  meridian  sunlight,  —  God  is  dishon- 
ored by  the  life  of  every  impenitent  person ;  God 
is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day ;  the  impeni- 
tent are  in  a  deplorable  condition  of  guilt,  of 
condemnation,  of  peril ;  they  may  be  saved,  if 
awakened  to  due  solicitude  in  time  ;  I  am  respon- 
sible for  the  salvation  of  certain  souls,  and  God 
alone  knows  who  they  are ;  I  can  reach  them  as 
the  instrument  of  their  salvation,  only  by  being 
myself  in  thorough  earnest ;  I  am  to  reach  some 
by  my  direct  action,  some  by  quickening  others  to 
act  on  them,  all  by  earnest  prayer. 

These  facts  must  not  only  be  thoroughly  believed, 
but  also  strongly  held  in  the  exercise  of  a  con- 
tinuous faith,  shutting  out  from  the  mind  all 
objects  that  diminish  these  impressions,  or  that 
absorb  the  attention  and  the  sensibilities.  To  a 
great  extent,  the  spiritual  life,  under  the  influences 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  moves  in  the  channels  of  the 


226  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

ordinary  activities  of  the  mind,  and  in  conformity 
with  its  laws ;  so  that  the  two  dominant  laws 
which  we  name  attention  and  habit  enter  largely 
into  all  the  exercises  of  the  spiritual,  that  highest 
form  of  life. 

In  order,  therefore,  that  any  truth  may  exert  its 
legitimate  influence  over  the  mind,  two  conditions 
must  be  met :  the  first,  that  the  attention  be  con- 
centrated on  that  truth.  And  probably,  both  intel- 
lectually and  spiritually,  there  is  more  difference 
between  men  in  the  use  they  make  of  these  powers 
than  in  the  original  degree  of  mental  endowments. 
To  choose  the  right  object  of  attention  is  one  of 
the  prime  duties  of  life  :  the  next  is,  to  hold  the 
attention  to  it. 

But  keep  in  view  the  difference  between  reading 
a  dialogue  of  Shakspeare  and  the  Gospel  of  John. 
You  attend  to  the  first  as  suggestive  or  entertain- 
ing, but  to  the  other  as  true.  Believe  the  great 
realities  just  stated,  if  you  would  feel  their~impulse 
as  motives. 

The  other  condition  is  this,  —  that  the  habit  of 
the  mind  be,  to  welcome,  cherish,  and  obey  the 
impulse  given  by  the  objects  of  thought  presented 
in  the  Scriptures,  and  impressed  on  the  heart  by 
the  Spirit  of  God. 

Search  out  the  secret  of  any  great  life  ;  go  back 
to  the  fountains  of  impulse  in  any  mighty  revolu- 
tion ;  study  the  process  of  every  transition-period 
of  history ;  acquaint  yourself  with  the  inner  life  of 


PRACTICAL   SURVEY.  227 

every  man  who  has  accomplished  great  things  in 
any  department  of  thought  or  action  ;  learn  where 
the  strength  of  Samson  lies  while  you  see  him 
bearing  away  gates  of  brass  from  the  enemy's 
citadel ;  search  for  the  fountain  whence  all  noble 
enthusiasm  springs ;  you  will  find  it  to  be  faith,  — 
faith  in  something  real,  or  fancied  to  be  so. 

The  apostle  Paul  and  Ignatius  Loyola,  Peter 
the  apostle  and  Peter  the  hermit,  John  Bunyan 
and  Mohammed, — the  man  that  moves  others  pow- 
erfully cannot  be  a  sceptic,  nor  a  semi-sceptic  : 
he  must  believe  something  clearly,  definitely, 
deeply,  honestly,  or  his  life  is  a  failure. 

Two  of  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  sixteenth 
century  have  been  thus  compared.  "  In  Luther, 
belief  was  a  certainty ;  in  Erasmus,  it  was  only  a 
high  probability.  And  the  difference  between  the 
two  is  not  merely  great,  it  is  infinite.  In  Luther 
it  was  the  root  ;  in  Erasmus,  the  flower." 

And,  if  I  may  utter  a  special  warning  to  my  dear 
young  brethren  pursuing  theological  science,  it  is 
this,  Guard  your  faith  in  the  inspiration  of  the 
Bible,  whether  you  can  define  inspiration,  and 
defend  it,  or  not.  Believe  with  a  martyr-spirit  of 
persistency  in  every  thing  God  there  teaches  about 
himself,  and  man's  spiritual  relations  to  him. 
Then,  out  of  this  faith  in  this  class  of  truths, 
springs  necessarily,  — 

2.  Intense  desire,  —  desire  for  the  manifestation 
of  the  Redeemer's  glory  in  the  conversion  of  men. 


228  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

This  seems  to  have  been  supreme  in  the  hearts  of 
the  apostles.  For  three  years  they  had  thought 
of  ah-nost  no  other  subject  but  the  character  and 
kingdom  of  Christ.  To  them  it  had  become  insup- 
portable, that  the  vi^orld  remained  so  ignorant  of 
him,  and  either  so  indifferent,  or  so  opposed. 

So  far  as  we  can  judge,  it  v^ould  seem  that  a 
Revival  springing  from  such  a  lofty  impulse  would 
have  a  much  higher  tone  than  those  which  are 
mainly  the  result,  so  far  as  the  inspiring  motive 
really  operating  is  concerned,  from  a  regard 
supremely  to  man's  salvation,  in  itself  considered. 
And  it  may  not  be  a  sound  judgment,  but  it  has 
much  in  its  favor,  that  this  is  the  chief  preferable- 
ness  of  the  Revivals  of  the  Edwardean  type  over 
our  Revivals,  and  of  the  Calvinistic  over  the 
Arminian  type.  Both  classes  of  motives  are  pure  ; 
but  the  former  is  not  only  highest,  it  also  includes, 
and  insures,  the  existence  of  the  latter.  Men  of  the 
stamp  of  John  Howe,  Richard  Baxter,  John  Flavel, 
and  John  Owen,  who  dwelt,  like  the  attendant 
angels,  in  the  very  presence  of  the  infinite  glory, 
reflected,  like  Moses,  that  glory,  in  all  their  minis- 
trations. The  human  spirit  was  frequently  over- 
awed, not  by  the  greatness  of  these  men,  but  by 
their  reverent  sense  of  God's  holy  presence.  Our 
present  ministry  does  certainly  move  on  a  lower 
plane,  manifesting  much  less  than  theirs  of  the 
sublimer  religious  sentiments. 

And  you  will  find  it    profitable  to  contemplate 


PRACTICAL    SURVEY.  229 

those  considerations  which  form  the  sublime  im- 
pulses of  our  profession,  and  especially  secure  our 
preparation  for  the  part  we  are  to  perform  in  these 
critical  transition-periods  for  communities  and  for 
individuals. 

The  chief  consideration  is  the  glory  of  God,  the 
unfolding  to  his  creatures'  view  of  those  personal 
qualities  which  nourish  the  love  and  loyalty  of 
heaven,  animate  its  service,  and  inspire  its  an- 
thems. 

To  this  sublime  impulse  are  added  those  less 
exalted,  and  yet  superior  to  all  that  earth  and  its 
interests  can  furnish.  The  highest  welfare  of 
society  is  immeasurably  promoted  by  every  genu- 
ine religious  Revival.  Out  of  that  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  modern  civilization  grew.  Nowhere  can 
you  ever  do  more  for  the  community  in  which 
your  lot  may  be  cast  than  by  promoting  its  reli- 
gious growth. 

And  the  whole  history  of  the  Church  demon- 
strates that  she  has  made  her  principal  advances 
by  Revivals,  or  through  that  form  of  development. 

And  what  shall  be  said,  if  it  be  true  that  on  this 
social  agitation,  this  concentration  of  the  public 
mind  on  religious  truth,  depends  the  conversion 
and  salvation  of  certain  souls !  The  difficulty  in 
urging  this  consideration  is,  that  words  enfeeble  it. 
It  lies  inwrapped  in  this  one  conception,  —  the 
difference  to  a  rational,  sensitive,  responsible  being, 
between,  on  the  one  hand,  becoming  holy,  recon- 


230  LECTURES    ON    REVIVA-LS. 

ciled  to  God,  united  to  Christ,  living  to  the  glory  of 
God  here,  entering  the  abodes  of  the  blessed  for 
eternity  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  remaining  unre- 
newed, unforgiven,  unfit  for  the  service  of  God 
here  and  his  presence  hereafter;  and  this  unfit- 
ness stamped  with  immortality,  —  the  difference 
between  a  soul  saved,  and  a  soul  lost. 

The  difficulty  in  our  profession  is  not  the  want 
of  quickening  motives  to  earnestness  and  activity, 
but  that  hateful  tendency  to  meet  these  motives 
with  cold,  dry  analyzing  and  catechising  of  the 
understanding,  without  giving  them  their  legiti- 
mate access  to  the  sensibilities  and  the  will. 

Then,  too,  you  should  be  affected  by  the  con- 
sideration of  your  own  highest  interests.  Do  you 
seek  for  the  highest  form  of  personal  develop- 
ment ?  It  will  be  found,  not  in  making  theology  a 
mere  instrument  of  developing  your  intellectual 
power,  not  in  making  grand  exhibitions  of  your 
intellectual  force,  furniture,  and  acumen,  but  in 
bringing  your  entire  spiritual  nature  under  the 
stimulating,  humbling,  elevating,  refining  power  of 
the  gospel,  and  into  the  most  intimate  sympathy 
with  your  Lord  and  Redeemer  in  the  travail  for 
the  new  birth  of  other  souls. 

Do  you  desire  the  highest  form  of  happiness  ? 
You  will  find  it  in  forgetting  yourself,  sharing  the 
feelings  that  brought  the  Son  of  God  from  the 
bosom  of  the  Father  to  the  manger  and  the  sepul- 
chre ;   and  in  yearning  over  dying  men,  and  exult- 


PRACTICAL   SURVEY.  23 1 

ing  over  the  new-born  heir  of  heaven,  the  prodigal 
returned. 

Do  you  aspire  after  honor  and  glory  and  immor- 
tality ?  Look  to  the  day  when  crowns  are  to  be 
distributed,  and  souls  redeemed  are  to  be  the 
adorning  gems  of  those  crowns  ;  when  "  They  that 
be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firma- 
ment, and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness, 
as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever."  * 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  success  will  not  be  the 
sole  ground  of  awarding  the  honors  of  the  coming 
dispensation ;  but  it  must  be  admitted  that  indo- 
lence, coldness,  self-seeking,  will  fail  of  those 
honors.  The  pound  that  gained  five  pounds  insures 
the  possession  of  five  cities  ;  and  the  ten  pounds 
gained  insure  ten  cities.  Bountiful  sowing  is 
declared  to  be  the  precursor  of  bountiful  reaping. 

Paul  exclaims,  "What  is  our  hope,  or  joy,  or 
crown  of  rejoicing.'*  Are  not  even  ye"  (converts 
under  my  ministry),  "  in  the  presence  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  his  coming  .? "  f  "  Dearly 
beloved  and  longed  for,  my  joy  and  crown."  It  is 
very  manifest  that  each  converted  soul  will  hold 
relations  joyous  and  blessed,  proportioned  in  honor 
and  affection,  joyousness  and  thankfulness,  to  their 
mutual  relations  in  this  life  as  convert  and  instru- 
ment of  conversion. 

Oh !  the  gratitude  of  one  hour  in  heaven  will 
compensate  for  all  the  sacrifices   of  Henry  Mar- 

*  Dan.  xii.  3.  t  i  Thess.  ii.  19. 


232  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

tyn,  the  toils  and  tears  of  David  Brainerd,  the 
labors  of  the  longest  and  most  wearisome  life. 

Covet,  then,  dear  brethren,  covet  earnestly,  the 
best  gifts,  the  gift  of  quickening  slumbering 
churches,  of  calling  the  dead  to  life,  of  moving 
w^hole  communities  to  an  earnest  seeking  after 
God. 

Desire  is  the  second  requisite  to  secure  this  great 
blessing.  It  was  the  pressure  of  this  desire  that 
brought  from  Paul  the  exclamation,  *'  I  have  great 
heaviness  and  continual  sorrow  in  my  heart  for  my 
brethren,  my  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh."  * 
David  Brainerd  says  on  one  occasion,  "Thus  I 
spent  the  evening,  praying  incessantly  for  divine 
assistance.  What  I  passed  through  is  inexpressi- 
ble. There  appeared  to  me  nothing  of  importance, 
but  holiness  of  heart  and  life,  and  the  conversion 
of  the  heathen  to  God.  I  exceedingly  longed  that 
God  would  get  himself  a  name  among  the  heathen. 
All  my  cares  and  fears  and  desires  of  a  worldly 
nature  disappeared,  and  were,  in  my  esteem,  of 
little  more  importance  than  a  puff  of  wind." 

We  witness  much  of  the  same  feeling  in  the 
prayers  of  Dr.  Griffin  for  his  daughter's  conver- 
sion, and  in  the  feelings  of  which  he  speaks,  when 
entering  the  pulpit  on  a  certain  occasion  :  "  I  could 
scarcely  stand  erect  under  the  burden  of  solicitude 
for  the  salvation  of  the  people.  The  agonies  of 
that   hour   can   never   be    told."     And  Brainerd' s 

*  Rom.  ix.  2,  3. 


PRACTICAL   SURVEY.  233 

prayers  for  his  poor  Indians  display  this  feeling  as 
strongly  as  his  declarations.  In  the  Reformers,  in 
Martyn,  Harriet  Newell,  Whitefield,  Judson,  and 
Lyman  Beecher,  we  witness  intense  emotions,  that 
command  our  reverence  even  more  thoroughly  than 
our  sympathy.  There  we  discover  that  yearning 
and  longing  for  the  conversion  of  souls,  and  for  the 
manifestation  of  God's  glory,  which  generally  con- 
stitutes the  first  human  stage  of  a  genuine  Revival. 

This  feeling  naturally  induces  the  employment 
of  means  adapted  to  secure  the  object.  The  first 
and  chief  of  these  is,  — 

3.  Prayer.  Sometimes  the  attainment  of  a 
higher  life  is  the  prominent  object.  And  perhaps 
this  is  the  most  desirable  beginning.  To  deal  thor- 
oughly with  one's  own  heart  is  a  good  preparation 
for  attempting  to  improve  other  men's  hearts. 
Seeking  to  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  be 
fully  consecrated  to  the  Lord's  service,  to  obtain  a 
tender,  penitent,  lowly,  loving  spirit,  is  a  move- 
ment in  the  right  direction  for  benefiting  our 
neighbors.  But  God  alone  can  give  this  blessing  ; 
so  that  the  prominent  feature  of  every  true  Revival 
is  prayer.  Earnest  and  persevering  prayer  has 
been  kept  up  by  one  or  more  persons  in  the  com- 
munity where  a  Revival  is  enjoyed.  A  Revival 
without  accompanying  prayer  is  an  impossibility ; 
and  without  antecedent  special  prayer,  has  prob- 
ably never  occurred. 

Even  the  Revival  of  Samuel's  day  was  preceded 


234  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

by  the  prayers  of  his  mother,  and  then  of  himself 
and  other  true-hearted  Israelites.  As  w^e  are  in- 
formed, during  that  long,  dark  period  while  the  ark 
was  detained  at  Kirjath-jearim,  "all  the  house  of 
Israel  lamented  after  the  Lord."  *  Then  came  the 
blessing;  and  "the  children  of  Israel  did  put 
away  Baalim  and  Ashtaroth,  and  served  the  Lord 
only." 

We  look  back  through  the  ages  past,  and  behold, 
from  time  to  time,  persons  possessed  of  an  ex- 
traordinary zeal  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and 
the  salvation  of  the  lost,  coming  often  to  the 
throne  of  grace,  and  —  in  the  spirit  of  Elijah,  of 
Jacob,  of  Him  who  frequently  arose  before  it  was 
yet  day  and  prayed  —  asking  and  pleading  for  the 
coming  of  that  Spirit  in  his  power  to  revive 
the  languid  heart  of  the  Church,  and  renew  those 
"  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins." 

In  Oroomiah,  to  prepare  the  devoted  missionaries 
for  the  work  of  prayer,  the  first  stage  of  that 
memorable  season  of  grace  upon  which  they  were 
soon  to  enter  in  1845,  they  were  brought  into 
extraordinary  trials,  such  as  made  them  utterly 
despair  of  defence  or  success  from  their  own 
strength.  Unusual  insensibility  prevailed  in  the 
school  on  religious  subjects.  This  the  missiona- 
ries made  an  occasion,  not  of  discouragement,  but 
of  extraordinary  prayer. 

Prayer,  however,  is  more  than  words.     It  is  the 

*  I  Sam.  vii.  2,  4. 


PRACTICAL   SURVEY.  23$ 

utterance  of  the  most  profound  and  fervent  de- 
sires of  which  the  human  heart  is  capable.  When 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  makes  intercession,  it  is  said 
to  be  "  with  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered," 
because  uttered  groans  are  not  the  deepest. 

Intense  desires,  thorough  conviction  of  unwor- 
thiness,  entire  dependence  on  the  sovereign  will  of 
God,  entire  confidence  that  he  will  fulfil  his  prom- 
ises, —  these  are  the  salient  elements  of  the  first 
stage  of  a  Revival,  found  oftener  in  the  cabin  than 
in  the  palace,  in  the  pew  than  in  the  pulpit. 

On  the  first  Monday  of  the  new  year,  which  was 
devoted  to  fasting  and  prayer,  the  missionaries 
ascertained  that  some  of  the  pupils  had  begun  to 
pray  for  themselves.  That  day  the  tide  of  salva- 
tion began  to  flow.  That  day  the  reapers  put  in 
their  sickles ;  and  many  and  rich  were  the  fruits  of 
the  harvest-gathering  to  the  glory  of  the  Lord  of 
the  harvest.  At  least  fifty  of  these  precious  souls 
were  then,  by  their  free  and  cheerful  choice,  conse- 
crated to  him  forever. 

But  there  are  grades  of  prayer.  Perhaps  the 
highest  kind  is  intended  by  the  phrase,  "  praying 
in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

In  order  to  pray  thus,  the  mind  must  be  filled 
with  his  light,  the  heart  fully  subjected  to  his  con- 
trol. Living  in  the  ordinary  state  of  religious  feel- 
ing and  purpose  does  not  comport  with  such 
praying.  In  this  state  the  peculiar  features  of  the 
Christian  life  and  spirit  all  come  out  into  a  more 


236  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

vivid  manifestation.  Repentance  is  deeper  than 
usual.  The  soul  Hes,  subdued  and  prostrate,  in 
the  presence  of  infinite  purity,  under  the  sense  of 
its  own  vileness.  Sin  is  more  than  ever  loathed, 
abhorred,  renounced.  The  heart  is  anew  detached 
from  earthly  objects ;  the  glory  of  God's  attributes, 
of  Jesus'  person,  is  more  distinctly  recognized. 
Compassion ;  earnest  solicitude  for  men's  souls  ; 
distress  at  abounding,  wickedness,  and  the  cruel 
plottings  of  Satan  ;  faith  in  the  divine  promises  so 
rich,  so  full ;  a  readiness  to  do  and  endure  and 
sacrifice  whatever  the  cause  demands,  —  these 
feelings  accompany  praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

This  state  of  feeling,  then,  leads  uniformly  to 
social  prayer.  In  addition  to  the  regular  assem- 
blies for  prayer  always,  such  Christians  seek  to 
meet  together,  more  frequently  and  less  formally, 
to  plead  the  promises  of  God. 

You  remember,  that,  in  Ireland,  the  recent  great 
awakening  manifested  itself  by  four  young  men, 
living  remote  from  each  other,  who  met  for  prayer 
at  a  central  place.  This  schoolhouse  became  the 
radiating  centre  of  the  heavenly  influence  for  the 
whole    country. 

Prayer,  to  be  prevalent,  must  express  right  de- 
sires, deeply  felt,  embracing  just  those  things 
which  God  alone  can  do. 

As  we  have  seen,  man  is  dependent  on  God  for 
the  Revival  of  religion  in  two  directions :  the  one 
is  the  vast  range  of  influences  which  prepare  the 


PRACTICAL   SURVEY.  237 

way  of  the  Spirit's  work,  and  co-operate  with  his 
action.  This  opens  a  wide  field  of  observation. 
In  studying  minutely  the  history  of  Revivals,  you 
will  have  occasion  to  notice  that  the  forms  of 
man's  dependence  are  very  numerous.  Innumera- 
ble atoms  of  light  constitute  the  one  sunbeam  that 
shines  for  a  day  on  a  plant :  so  there  are  count- 
less emanations  of  the  divine  power,  affecting  men 
through  their  nerves  of  general  sensation,  — the 
brain,  the  stomach,  the  vision,  the  hearing, — com- 
bining sometimes  to  produce  favorable  religious 
results,  but  sometimes  unfavorable,  through  the 
perverseness  of  the  human  heart.  Sometimes 
a  Revival  depends,  for  its  introduction,  on  one 
person  ;  and  every  thing  depends  more  or  less  on 
the  condition  of  both  his  body  and  his  mind. 

The  progress  of  a  work  of  grace  is  quickened 
or  retarded  by  a  multitude  of  external  influences, 
which  Providence  alone  can  control.  The  health 
of  one,  the  financial  condition  of  another,  the  state 
of  some  family,  a  book,  a  sermon,  a  conversa- 
tion, may  powerfully  affect  a  Revival. 

And  so,  too,  of  the  conversion  of  sinners :  exter- 
nal influences  have  a  most  important  place,  because 
the  person  to  be  converted  is  a  compound  of  matter 
and  mind. 

Mr.  Nettleton  is  reported  to  have  said  that  the 
funeral  of  a  distinguished  man  had  so  absorbed 
the  attention  of  a  village,  that  the  Revival  came  to 
an  end  there. 


238  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

To  show  how  little  things  can  be  employed  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  secure  the  conversion  of  a  soul, 
I  will  mention  a  case. 

A  student  in  Union  College  was  invited  to  go 
and  hear  a  certain  preacher.  He  refused,  from 
utter  indifference  to  his  spiritual  interests.  His 
friend  awakened  his  curiosity  by  a  remark  about 
the  curious  form  of  the  building.  He  went  to  the 
house  of  God,  but  paid  no  attention  to  the  services. 
Just  as  the  preacher  was  about  closing  his  address, 
the  young  man  looked  out  into  the  churchyard. 
One  of  the  last  leaves  of  autumn  hung  trembling 
in  the  breeze.  That  leaf  caught  his  attention. 
Gazing  at  it,  he  observed  it  to  tremble.  Presently 
its  hold  on  the  tree  was  broken.  As  a  flash  of 
lightning,  the  sermon  of  the  leaf  struck  his  spirit. 
"  Emblem  of  my  soul !  "  he  almost  exclaimed.  "  I 
shall  soon  lose  my  hold  on  life,  and  go  down  like 
that  leaf.  But  where  shall  I  alight.?"  A  train 
of  thought  then  commenced  which  will  run  an 
eternal  stream-life  of  joy  and  praise  through  the 
ages  of  eternity. 

See,  then,  the  ground  of  prayer  from  merely  this 
point  of  view.  Wc  arc  dependent  on  the  provi- 
dence of  our  Saviour  for  our  mental  frames ;  and  so 
are  all  our  neighbors.  Whether  we  shall  think 
with  clearness  and  concentration,  with  earnestness 
of  purpose,  whether  our  physical  endurance  shall 
be  sufficient  to  bear  the  strain  of  deep  religious 
feeling,  depends  not  on  ourselves. 


PRACTICAL   SURVEY.  239 

The  state  of  the  public  mind,  too,  is  a  matter  of 
great  moment  in  this  connection.  But  who  shall 
control  the  mighty  currents  that  sweep  over  the 
face  of  society,  unless  it  be  He  who  regulates  the 
swelling  and  subsiding  tides  of  the  sea  ?  When  I 
returned  from  Europe  in  1839,  ^  ^^^  conscious,  in 
all  public  services,  of  the  impulse  on  the  people's 
minds  ;  first  from  the  financial  trials  of  that  year, 
and  then  from  the  awful  destruction  of  the 
steamer  "  Lexington  "  on  Long  Island  Sound. 

Indeed,  so  delicate  a  plate  is  the  human  spirit, 
when  Providence  has  submitted  it  to  a  process 
illustrated  by  that  of  preparing  a  photographic 
plate,  that  the  mere  movement  of  a  preacher's 
hand,  or  the  inflection  of  his  voice,  may  powerfully 
impress  the  spirit  for  good  or  for  evil. 

Here,  then,  is  an  occasion  for  prayer  to  Him  who 
"  doeth  according  to  his  will  in  the  army  of  heaven 
and  among  the  inhabitants  of  earth."  He  holds 
the  winds  in  his  fist,  and  he  directs  bur  steps. 
Therefore  it  is  right  to  pray  to  him  for  favoring 
circumstances,  the  removal  of  embarrassments,  the 
raising-up  appropriate  instruments  for  the  work. 

But  especially  must  we  pray  for  the  Holy  Spirit. 
This  arrangement  of  divine  wisdom  and  love  is 
made  prominent  in  the  Scriptures,  that  the  com- 
ing of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  renew  the  dead  in  sin  is 
intimately,  if  not  indispensably,  connected  with  the 
prayers  of  believers.  And  the  records  of  every 
Revival,  so  far  as  we  know,  contain  the  illustration 
of  this  fact. 


240  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

The  apostles  must  remain  in  Jerusalem  fifty  days 
after  the  Lord's  resurrection,  and  ten  after  his 
ascension,  before  they  could  commence  their  work 
under  the  baptism  and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
But  what  were  they  to  do  in  Jerusalem  ? — layout  a 
great  scheme  of  ecclesiastical  organization,  form  a 
great  institution  for  sending  out  and  sustaining 
preachers  ?  or  was  it  to  prepare  sermons  of  great 
power  and  polish  }  No  :  important  as  any  or  all  of 
these  may  be  for  the  Church  in  subsequent  ages, 
these  men  were  then  to  do  but  one  thing,  —  pray. 
Thus  the  Christian  Church  began  her  glorious 
career,  her  march  to  ultimate  victory,  not  in  her 
might,  but  in  her.  weakness,  not  in  displaying  the 
power  of  her  ministers,  but  in  feeling  her  sole 
reliance  on  an  almighty  agent. 

Prayer  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  features  in 
that  wonderful  institution,  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Just  imagine  a  creature  of  yesterday  inviting  the 
all-wise  God  to  incline  his  ear,  and  listen  to  him  ! 
And  yet  so  it  is.  Prayer  is  welcome  to  that  ear, 
whoever  on  earth  may  grow  weary  of  it,  or  despise 
it. 

A  praying  pastor  must  be  to  the  angels  a  pro- 
foundly affecting  spectacle.  To  the  people  he 
appears  a  man  of  strength,  able  to  counsel,  reprove, 
encourage,  strengthen  them  :  before  God  he  is  "  a 
worm,  and  no  man,"  crying  in  his  weakness  and 
unworthiness ;  a  priest,  carrying  each  precious 
name   on  his  breastplate.     Mumbled,  emptied   of 


PRACTICAL    SURVEY.  241 

all  high  thoughts,  of  all  self-complacency,  burdened 
with  the  weight  of  immortal  spirits,  he  has  come 
to  plead  for  that  divine  power  which  alone  can 
qualify  him  to  preach  aright,  which  alone  can 
convince  men  of  sin,  and  lead  them  to  Christ. 
This  is  the  work  in  secret  seen  of  Him  who  seeth 
in  secret,  and  rewards  with  open  benedictions  our 
secret  prayers. 

Among  the  first  pastors  of  the  Scotch  emi- 
grants settling  in  the  north  of  Ireland  was  Blair, 
a  man  of  grand  physical  proportions  and  yet 
grander  mental  structure,  —  as  a  contemporary 
says,  "  Thoroughly  learned,  of  strong  parts,  deep 
invention,  solid  judgment,  and  a  most  public  spirit 
for  God.  This  man  was  favored  with  extraor- 
dinary success.  He  passed  many  days  and  nights 
in  solitary  prayer,  and  many  with  others,  and 
was  vouchsafed  great  intimacy  with  God." 
-  Extraordinary  success  in  the  pulpit  is  well  worth 
extraordinary  supplication  in  the  closet. 
The  next  step  we  may  indicate  is,  — 
4.  A  renewed  consecration  of  themselves  by  pastof 
and  people.  And  to  this  step  there  are  these 
inducements.  Former  consecrations  may  have 
been  incomplete  ;  or,  if  complete,  they  have  not 
been  sufficient  to  hold  the  ever-gravitating  heart 
and  will  up  to  that  unearthly  elevation.  On  that 
account,  a  renewal  of  consecration  is  very  desira- 
ble ;  for  our  weakness  in  all  Christian  work  is  a 
weakness  of  purpose. 


242  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

But,  if  it  were  not  so,  v;^e  are  never,  two  succes- 
sive years,  intellectually  in  the  same  position.  Our 
views  of  truth  and  duty  are,  or  ought  to  have 
been,  expanding.  Consecration  to-day  means  more, 
comprehends  more,  than  it  did,  or  was  possible  to 
mean,  a  year  ago.  The  world  may  have  a  hold 
upon  the  heart,  self  may  have  had  a  lurking-place, 
not  discoverable  by  the  light  of  former  days. 

A  pastor  setting  apart  a  day  to  the  work  of 
renewed  self-consecration  ;  searching  for  his  motives 
in  all  former  labors  ;  looking  at  the  claims  of  his 
Lord,  his  church,  and  a  perishing  world,  on  his 
sympathies,  his  labors,  and  his  prayers,  —  is  taking 
a  step  in  advance  in  the  great  work  of  his  office. 
A  pastor,  with  the  utmost  deliberateness,  thorough- 
ness, and  solemnity  of  which  he  is  capable,  going 
to  the  gracious  Friend  and  Lord  who  redeemed 
him  by  his  own  blood,  and  yielding  himself  to  be 
fully  employed  in  saving  the  lost,  renouncing  every 
ambitious  hope,  every  selfish  end,  —  such  a  pastor  is 
doing  more  in  one  day  than  he  could  in  a  lifetime 
of  mere  perfunctory  intellectual  labor. 

Consecrated  pastors  are  the  world's  great  want ; 
for  into  their  hearts,  from  which  the  world  and 
monstrous  self  have  been  ejected  in  the  King's 
name,  the  Holy  Spirit  enters. 

In  1679  the  Massachusetts  Government  called  a 
synod  of  all  the  churches  in  the  colony  to  answer 
these  inquiries  :  What  are  the  evils  that  have  pro- 
voked the  Lord   to  bring  his  judgments  on  New 


PRACTICAL   SURVEY.  243 

England  ?  What  is  to  be  done  to  remove  these 
evils  ?  Among  the  answers  to  the  second  inquiry 
was  this,  The  churches  are  advised  to  make  an 
express  and  solemn  renewal  of  their  covenant  with 
God  and  one  another.  The  result  is  thus  described 
by  Cotton  Mather :  "  Very  remarkable  was  the 
blessing  of  God  on  the  churches,  not  only  by  an 
advancement  of  hoHness  in  the  people,  but  also  by 
a  great  addition  of  converts  to  their  holy  fellow- 
ship. And  many  thousand  spectators  will  testify 
that  they  never  saw  the  special  presence  of  the 
great  God  our  Saviour  more  notably  discovered 
than  in  the  solemnity  of  those  opportunities." 
(Christian  History,  book  v.) 

In  1704  we  have  a  record  (Christian  History,  i. 
no),  in  which  we  are  informed  what  points  were 
specified  in  the  covenant  then  made.  It  referred 
specially  to  the  sins  of  frequenting  taverns,  idle- 
ness, irreverence  in  worship,  neglect  of  family 
worship,  promise-breaking,  slanders.  The  cove- 
nant was  read  in  the  morning  ;  "  they  standing  up 
as  an  outward  sign,  to  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants, 
of  their  inward  consent.  In  the  afternoon,  all 
standing,  each  one  brought  his  name  on  paper,  to 
have  it  entered  on  the  church-record." 

A  copy  of  the  covenant  used  in  Northampton  in 
1 741  is  preserved  (Edwards's  Life  by  Dwight,  chap, 
xiii.).  It  is  very  minute,  extended,  and  solemn.  In 
Boston,  in  1865,  the  Congregational  churches  unit- 
ed in  a  solemn  renewal  of  their  covenant.     It  was 


244  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

done  v^rith  much  seriousness,  and  manifest  benefit. 
And  yet  it  appears  as  if  we  had  merely  commenced 
the  work,  so  far  had  our  churches  decUned  from 
that  state  of  intimate  communion  with  God,  and 
full  consecration  to  our  Saviour,  which  character- 
ized the  founders  of  the  New  England  churches. 
Let  it  be  fully  understood  that  the  Lord  accepts 
not  the  lame  and  the  halt,  but  demands  the  full 
donation  of  all. 

When  the  steps  have  been  taken  which  secure 
the  soul's  peaceful  relations  with  God,  and  unre- 
served consecration  to  him,  it  is  prepared  to  enter 
upon  the  outward  and  aggressive  stages  of  the 
work. 

But,  before  considering  that,  we  may  refer  to  — 
5.  Mutual  confession.  Alienations  and  unsettled 
controversies  among  brethren  are  so  entirely  con- 
trary to  the  spirit  and  precepts  of  the  gospel,  that, 
where  they  exist,  the  Holy  Spirit  must  be  greatly 
hindered  by  them.  These  are  a  portion  of  the 
descendants  of  Achan,  who,  by  his  one  unrepented 
sin,  paralyzed  the  entire  military  power  of  the 
nation,  and  threw  it  into  the  hands  of  its  enemies. 
The  Saviour  expressly  declares,  that,  before  we 
offer  our  gift  or  prayer,  we  must  seek  as  far  as  in 
us  lies  to  be  reconciled  to  an  offended,  and  forgive 
an  offending  brother. 


TENTH   LECTURE. 

Practical  Survey  {continued). 

We  are  now  to  consider  — 

6.  The  external  or  aggressive  work ;  the  form  of 
which  depends  much  on  the  providence  of  God. 
When  Dr.  L.  Beecher  went  to  Litchfield  to  reside, 
he  was  in  precisely  the  mood  of  mind  that  harmonizes 
with  the  introductory  stage  of  a  Revival,  without 
reference  to  any  particular  measures.  "  From  the 
first,"  he  remarks,  *'  I  preached  for  a  Revival." 
And,  by  way  of  contrast,  he  observes  in  the  same 
connection,  "  If  any  ministers  came  to  town,  I  did 
not  want  them  to  help  me,  did  not  ask  them,  not  a 
single  one.  They  would  have  struck  forty  miles 
behind." 

This  may  appear  arrogant  to  some,  and  dispara- 
ging to  his  brethren  :  let  them  be  assured  it  is 
not.  Sermons  prepared  for  an  ordinary  state  of 
the  Church  are  not  adapted  to  her  extraordinary 
states,  any  more  than  is  a  thanksgiving  sermon  for 
a  fast  day. 

Successful  laborers  have  generally  appeared  to  act 

on  these  principles,  —  prayer  must  be  increased  in 

frequency,  earnestness,  and  definiteness;  personal 

address  to  the  impenitent  is  now  demanded ;  preach- 

21*  245 


246  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

ing  must  adapt  itself  to  the  production  of  immediate 
results;  every  other  interest  and  pursuit  must  be  held 
subordinate  to  the  conversion  of  souls.  Very  fre- 
quently the  repeated  renewal  of  covenant  by  the 
Church,  and  days  of  fasting,  in  advanced  or  in  flag- 
ging stages  of  the  work,  have  been  very  helpful. 

Lay-labor  characterizes  increasingly  our  modern 
Revival,  both  in  England  and  America.  Yet  we 
find,  as  far  back  as  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
that  some  clergymen  had  discovered  the  value  of 
this  class  of  laborers.  When  the  Church  sinks 
down  into  a  condition  of  torpor,  the  clergy  are  very 
prone  to  increase  in  zeal  for  their  caste,  in  propor- 
tion as  they  decline  in  zeal  for  souls.  Then  they 
invent  theories  about  the  sacred  office,  which  tend 
to  make  laymen  regard  it  as  intrusion,  on  their  part, 
to  exhort  or  instruct  in  religious  meetings.  But  we 
have  evidence  that  the  glad  tidings  were  heralded  in 
the  beginning  by  disciples  not  ordained  as  preachers. 
It  was  a  noble  reply  of  Moses,  when  one  attempted 
to  awaken  his  professional  jealousy,  "  Would  God 
that  all  the  Lord's  people  were  prophets ! "  * 
When  all  the  Church  was  driven  from  Jerusalem, 
they  went  everywhere,  EvayyeXi^ofiEvoi  tdv  Xoyov.  And, 
except  the  apostles,  we  have  no  evidence  that  any 
of  them  but  Stephen  had  been  commissioned  to 
preach ;  and  he  was  then  not  living.  Peter  Waldo 
was  a  merchant  of  Lyons ;  but  he  blew  the  gospel- 
trumpet,  and  prophesied  effectually  in  the  valley 
of  dry  bones. 

*  Num.  xi.  29. 


PRACTICAL    SURVEY.  247 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Robe,  pastor  of  Kelsyth,  Scotland, 
a  cautious  man,  thus  writes  concerning  the  Revival 
in  1742.  In  the  parish  of  Badarnock,  the  pastor 
having  died,  "  The  Lord  hath  honored  their  school- 
master, James  Forsyth,  to  be  greatly  instrumental 
in  the  good  work  among  them."  Then,  after  ex- 
panding this  point,  he  adds,  "  I  have  been  more 
particular  in  this  article  concerning  Badarnock, 
where  about  one  hundred  have  been  awakened,  that 
we  who  are  ministers  of  the  gospel  may  learn  from 
this  not  to  be  lifted  up  from  any  success  we  may 
have  in  our  ministry,  seeing  that,  though  the 
Lord  maketh  effectual  the  preaching  of  the  Word, 
yet  he  also  blesseth  the  reading  of  the  Word  by 
schoolmasters  and  others,  and  that  he  can,  and  doth 
sometimes,  make  use  of  instruments  weak  and  in- 
considerable, for  beginning  and  carrying  on  a  good 
work  upon  the  souls  of  men,  while  men  of  great 
gifts  are  not  so  successful." 

Pres.  Edwards  remarks,  that  "some  laymen 
are  in  some  respects  under  greater  advantages  to 
encourage  and  forward  this  work  than  ministers." 
Richard  Baxter  says,  in  describing  his  labors  in 
Kidderminster,  "  One  advantage  I  had  was  through 
the  godly  people  of  the  place,  who  thirsted  after 
the  salvation  of  their  neighbors,  and  were  ready  to 
exhort  men,  and  teach  them  how  to  pray." 

Dr.  Julius  Wood  thus  testified  to  Free  Church 
general  assemblies  of  Scotland  in  1 860 :  "  From 
one    hundred    and    sixty-nine   returns    from    the 


248  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

churches,  eighty-six  report  Revivals  in  their  congre- 
gations. I  cannot  help  observing,  that  one  great 
means  of  awakening  seems  to  have  been  the  com- 
municating intelligence  of  what  the  Lord  has  done 
in  other  places.  I  find,  in  almost  all  the  reports, 
that  this  was  done  with  the  most  blessed  results. 
The  information  interested  the  people,  and  brought 
the  thing  home  to  them  :  they  felt  it  was  a  reality  ; 
and  it  excited  a  desire  to  benefit,  and  it  led  them 
to  use  the  means  God  has  appointed  for  obtaining 
the  benefit." 

In  1743  the  Rev.  John  Porter  ascribes  the 
beginning  of  a  Revival  in  Bridgewater  to  two 
young  men  returning  home  from  the  Revival  in 
Yale  College,  who  convened  their  friends,  and  re- 
lated what  they  had  seen  there.*  The  same  instru- 
mentality was  prominent  in  spreading  the  sacred 
influence  in  Ireland. 

Within  a  few  years  there  have  been  some  very 
encouraging  movements  made  by  young  men's  as- 
sociations and  the  Christian  Commission.  They 
have  been  diligent  in  holding  conventions,  not  for 
business,  ecclesiastical  or  benevolent,  but  directly 
to  promote  Revivals.  And  the  success  has  been 
very  cheering.  I  have  not  indeed  heard  of  as 
strong  social  impulses  from  them  as  in  former  Re- 
vivals :  I  trust  this  is  not  degeneracy,  but  that 
Revivals  are  only  changing  their  form,  as  every 
social  movement  must,  from  age  to  age.     Cheerful- 

*  Great  Awakening,  129. 


PRACTICAL  SURVEY.  249 

ness,  joy,  brotherly  love,  unsectarian  fellowship, 
particularly  distinguish  these  later  movements ; 
and  I  see  not  that  this  type  is  lower  than  those  of 
a  sterner,  more  heart-searching,  and  heart-breaking 
character. 

The  labors  of  our  brethren  and  sisters  are  be- 
coming more  and  more  valuable. 

But  I  would  particularly  notice  two  directions  in 
which  the  aggression  of  the  Revival  should  be 
pressed,  —  the  fireside  and  the  Sunday  school.  It 
is  the  time  for  parents  to  renew  their  covenant  with 
God,  and  entreat  him  to  quicken  their  faith  in  his 
promises,  —  precious  season  for  parents,  when  the 
Church  is  moving  forward  with  new  vigor,  when 
the  cloud  of  prayer  is  swelling,  when  the  very 
atmosphere  seems  to  be  filled  with  God's  presence, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  nigh  in  peculiar  power. 
Now  every  thing  aids  paternal  efforts  for  the  sal- 
vation of  their  children.  Now  the  current  of  feel- 
ing in  the  parish  is  running  heavenward.  Now  the 
topics  of  the  pulpit  are  chosen  with  reference  to 
arousing  the  careless,  aiding  the  inquiring,  bring- 
ing the  lost  to  their  Saviour. 

In  these  circumstances,  let  the  domestic  ar- 
rangements, business,  amusement,  social  visiting,  all 
be  made  subordinate  and  subservient  to  this  one 
great  interest. 

And,  in  a  measure,  these  considerations  should 
powerfully  affect  the  teachers  of  children.  Every 
thing  now  favors  direct  concentration   of  prayer 


250  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

and  effort.  Now  may  be  the  harvest-season  after 
a  long  seed-time.  Now  more  may  be  done  in  one 
interview  to  bring  the  soul  to  the  great  decision 
than  could  be  accomplished  in  years  of  toil  before. 
This  is  no  more  disparaging  to  the  past  than  the 
oak  is  to  the  acorn. 

But  the  Saviour  recognizes  the  fact  that  there 
are  seasons  of  peculiar  privilege  and  responsibility, 
the  signs  of  which  we  are  bound  to  observe. 

A  very  important  question  here  meets  us.  It 
may  be  thus  stated  :  as  the  periods  of  most  emi- 
nent success  in  converting  men  have  been  con- 
nected with  continuous,  even  daily,  labors  to  this 
end,  is  it  obligatory  on  the  Church,  or  even 
expedient  for  her,  to  have  daily,  systematic  efforts, 
and  especially  public  religious  exercises,  aiming  at 
the  result } 

To  sustain  a  theory,  we  have  heard  persons  make 
statements  concerning  great  Revivals,  that  they 
accompanied  the  ordinary  services  of  the  sabbath, 
and  a  few  other  exercises.  I  can  only  say  in  refer- 
ence to  this,  no  great,  widespread  Revival  was 
seen  on  this  wise.  It  was  not  so  in  Ezra's  day, 
when  the  people  forsook  their  ordinary  avocations, 
and  for  days  stood  in  the  rain  to  hear  the  reading 
and  expounding  of  their  long-forgotten  book  of  the 
law.  It  was  not  so  when  the  apostles  preached 
daily,  and  the  people  were  constantly  in  religious 
meetings  for  worship,  instruction,  and  exhortation. 
So  the  apostles  spread  the  gospel,  and  founded 


PRACTICAL   SURVEY.  25 1 

the  churches  of  the  New  Testament  throughout 
the  empire.  The  term  "  daily "  will  be  found  in 
connection  with  the  saints  assembling  in  the  tem- 
ple, and  the  apostles  preaching. 

Dr.  Lardner,  says,  "  At  first  the  churches  assem- 
bled every  day."  Chrysostom,  in  the  fourth  century, 
thus  laments,  "  It  makes  me  sigh  to  the  bottom  of 
my  heart  to  see  the  daily  services  beginning  to  be 
neglected." 

Pres.  Edwards  desired  a  restoration  of  the  daily 
service.  He  even  declared  that  "  this  alone  would 
secure  the  constant  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  the  light  of  his  countenance,  and  keep  the 
Church  awake,  active,  and  successful  as  daily  labor- 
ers for  the  salvation  of  men." 

My  judgment  inclines  to  the  middle  position, 
between  the  two  extremes.  The  primitive  laborers 
occupied  a  very  peculiar  field,  and  cannot  be  our 
patterns  in  every  particular. 

Whitefield  and  the  Wesleys,  Edwards,  Nettleton, 
and  others,  carried  this  out  just  as  long  as  they 
found  it  successful.  But  I  have  known  churches 
and  preachers  determined  to  continue  holding  their 
daily  services  after  the  Revival  had  passed  its  culmi- 
nating point.  They  appeared  to  me  to  do  more 
injury  than  good.  This,  however,  may  have  been 
owing  to  their  having  grieved  the  Spirit  to  leave 
them  to  empty  ordinances. 

These  are  considerations  to  be  weighed  on  the 
other  side.     The  novelty  gives  a  temporary  interest 


252  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

to  these  exercises.  They  tend  to  physical  exhaus- 
tion, and  are  thus  exposed  to  a  mental  re-action. 
There  is,  then,  not  the  need  of  them  in  Christian 
communities,  that  there  was  among  Jews  and 
Pagans  at  first.  Books,  religious  papers,  Sunday 
schools,  have  furnished  the  people  with  instruction 
and  impulse,  which  then  could  come  only  through 
the  public  oral  address. 

And  then  it  must  be  agreed,  on  all  sides,  that  it 
is  not  a  matter  of  duty,  as  God  has  not  required  it 
in  his  Word.  I  am  therefore  inclined  to  believe,  that 
while  the  ordinary  services  of  the  sanctuary  suffice 
for  ordinary  seasons,  yet  there  are  times  in  religion, 
as  in  agriculture,  when  every  power  should  be  con- 
centrated on  sowing  or  reaping. 

How  many  sermons  a  day,  and  of  what  kind, 
each  one  who  conducts  the  services  must  judge 
for  himself.  But  there  can  be  no  question  that 
there  are  seasons  in  the  spiritual  world,  as  in  every 
other  department  of  life,  when  concentrated  interest 
and  labor  are  called  for,  and  promise  peculiar 
returns.  A  heart  alive  to  the  welfare  of  immortal 
souls,  and  constantly  looking  to  God  for  light  and 
guidance,  we  must  believe,  will  judge  rightly  on 
this  point. 

I  have  frequently  been  requested  to  give  more 
specific  directions.  Allow  me,  then,  to  suggest  our 
mutual  relations.  I  aim  to  assist  you  in  distinguish- 
ing general  principles  from  specific  counsel  or  rules. 
If  I  should  attempt  to  bind  your  future  action   by 


PRACTICAL   SURVEY.  253 

rules  founded,  even  legitimately,  on  my  own  experi- 
ence, I  should  probably  mislead  you,  because  specific 
rules  are  the  statements  of  general  principles  mod- 
ified by  circumstances  purely  local  and  temporary, 
and  by  peculiarities  entirely  personal.  Following 
the  rules  of  a  leader,  you  become  partisans,  for- 
malists, and  conservatives,  even  if  your  leader 
should  be  a  radical.  Acting  on  eternal  principles, 
rigid  in  your  obedience  to  them,  free  in  the  modes 
of  applying  them,  exercising  your  own  independ- 
ent judgment  in  '  humble  dependence  on  God, 
constitutes  true  Christian  independence. 

I  have,  then,  no  rules  to  offer  regulating  the  fre- 
quency of  meetings ;  but  I  state  the  principles  that 
belong  to  the  subject.  The  attention  of  the  people 
ought  always  to  be  held  supremely  to  religious 
truth.  There  are  seasons  when  their  attention 
should  be  absorbed  in  them.  Preaching,  confer- 
ence, praise,  prayer,  exhortation,  and  direction  to 
inquirers,  must  be  so  employed  as  to  secure  a 
continuous  impression  on  the  public  mind,  and 
the  personal  application  of  the  truth  to  each  spe- 
cific case,  according  to  the  personal  necessities  of 
it.  That  is  the  ideal  to  be  aimed  at.  The  evils  to 
be  avoided  are  physical  exhaustion,  yielding,  on  the 
one  hand,  prematurely  to  unfavorable  indications, 
on  the  other,  pressing  forward  in  a  direction  in 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  does  not  accompany  you. 
Thus  you  see  you  are  to  be  thrown  upon  your  own 
judgment,  under  the  Lord's  immediate  guidance ; 


254  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

and  all  the  benefit  of  human  advice  is,  that  it  aids 
you  to  discover  the  general  principles  on  v^hich  you 
are  to  act  in  specific  cases. 

Another  question  then  arises,  Who  shall  preach  ? 
The  pastor  may  feel  that  he  cannot  meet  the  de- 
mands of  the  times,  and  must,  therefore,  be  aided 
from  without.  But  the  laborers  are  indeed  few 
who  do  the  work  of  an  evangelist  among  pastors, 
judiciously  and  efficiently. 

■  Evangelists. 

As  to  the  order  of  men  called  *'  evangelists,"  there 
are  various  opinions.  An  evangelist  is  a  preacher 
without  pastoral  charge,  and  not  seeking  it,  but 
intending  merely  to  preach.     I  inquire  first,  — 

Should  the  churches  raise  up,  train,  and  support 
such  an  order  of  men  .-* 

That  the  ascended  Lord  gave  some  evangelists 
is  expressly  affirmed.  And  Philip  and  Stephen 
were  such. 

Then,  in  later  days,  Luther  was  an  evangelist :  so 
were  Whitefield,  both  the  Wesleys,  and  all  their 
lay-laborers.  The  missionary  in  foreign  lands,  or 
gathering  churches  in  our  country,  is  one.  The 
apostolic  office,  too,  involved  the  same  function  of 
preaching  without  the  charge  of  a  local  church. 

But  we  are  inquiring  about  a  particular  class  of 
this  order,  — men  to  labor  occasionally  with  pastors 
within  the  bounds  of  their  pastoral  charge. 

Two  societies,  at  least,  have  been   organized  to 


EVANGELISTS.  255 

raise  and  support  such  an  order.  But  the  Head  of 
the  Church  has  not  granted  encouraging  indica- 
tions of  his  favor,  sufficient  to  give  any  prominence 
or  permanence  to  the  experiment :  in  fact,  so  many 
difficulties  surround  the  subject,  that  I  cannot  take 
that  side  at  present. 

Another  inquiry  is,  Should  any  man  take  this 
office  upon  him  ?  I  would  say.  Do  not  seek  the 
office ;  for  there  is  none  in  which  more  grace  is 
needed,  and  to  which,  it  seems  to  me,  a  more  special 
call  is  necessary.  On  the  other  hand,  if  like  Mr. 
Nettleton,  who  was  preparing  to  enter  the  field  of 
foreign  missions,  you  find  yourself  led  by  the  in- 
visible hand  directly  into  this  form  of  labor,  go, 
nothing  doubting. 

Should  an  evangelist  receive  a  formal  ordination 
or  recognition  ?  Before  he  is  known  to  the  reli- 
gious world,  some  pastor  or  church,  at  least,  should 
indorse  him. 

Should  a  pastor  or  church  employ  such  helpers  .'* 
and,  if  so,  when }  Some  have  resolved  never  to 
employ  them.  I  should  not  dare  make  that  reso- 
lution ;  but  I  would  be  sure  the  time  and  the  man 
had  come,  before  employing  such  assistance. 

When  one  is  employed,  the  pastor  should  hold 
the  reins,  giving  the  helper  full  scope  within  pre- 
scribed limits.  Do  not  depend  on  him,  or  any 
other  man,  to  do  your  work  ;  nor  look,  in  ordinary 
circumstances,  for  help,  except  to  your  own  flock, 
or  to  a   neighboring   pastor,  but   chiefly   to   your 


2S6  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS, 

ascended  Lord.     Trust  him  ;  prove  him  by  earnest 
prayer,  submission,  and  expectation. 

What  are  the  indications  that  an  evangehst 
should  be  employed  ?  They  may  be  these,  —  one, 
or  all:  the  pastor  feels  an  impulse,  which,  he* is 
conscious,  his  own  labors  cannot  be  expected  to 
follow  successfully.  This  must  be  felt :  descrip- 
tion cannot  make  it  known,  unless  you  have  felt  it. 
The  Church  have  the  same  impulse,  which  the 
pastor  also  knows  he  cannot  work  effectively. 
Then,  again,  an  evangelist  can  be  procured  who  has 
substantially  the  qualifications  which  the  field  and 
the  times  demand.     Employ  him. 

Other  Instrumentalities. 

Among  the  various  devices  of  a  holy  ingenuity 
to  make  the  most  of  a  Revival-impulse  for  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  men,  you  may  find 
these,  —  the  selection  and  judicious  donation  of 
books  and  tracts  suited  to  the  various  shades  of 
feeling  then  existing ;  the  visitation  of  families 
by  the  most  awakened  and  discreet  of  the  church  ; 
the  gathering  together  by  families  to  seek  a  bless- 
ing.    Letters  have  been  very  useful  at  such  times. 

The  inquiry  has  been  made,  What  books  are  best 
adapted  for  this  service  ? 

To  the  pastor  may  be  recommended,  James's 
"  Earnest  Ministry,"  "  Words  to  the  Winners  of 
Souls,"  "Reformed  Pastor"  of  Baxter. 

For    the    church,    "Words    to    the    Winners," 


MANNER    OF    REVIVAL    PREACHING. 


257 


"  Earnest  Church,"  "  Memoir  of  Mary  Lyon," 
"Daniel  Safford,"  "Power  from  on  High,"  "Power 
of  Prayer,"  "  Ephesus." 

For  the  unawakened,  "  Leaflets,"  and  many 
earnest  tracts,  "Jerry  and  his  Friends,"  Baxter's 
"  Call,"  Doddridge's  "  Rise  and  Progress,"  Allein's 
"  Alarm,"  "  Waiting  Saviour." 

For  the  awakened,  "  Come  to  Jesus,"  "  How  to 
Repent,"  "  A  Saviour  for  You,"  "  Behold  the  Lamb 
of  God." 

For  converts,  "  Apollos,"  "  Christian  Culture." 

7.  Preaching.  We  turn,  now,  to  the  constituted 
messenger  of  God  to  a  particular  community,  and 
to  his  preaching. 

The  importance  of  a  Revival  in  a  minister's 
heart,  the  descent  of  the  divine  impulse  upon  the 
pastor,  even  Gabriel  cannot  fully  estimate.  A 
quickened  minister  is  a  polished  mirror  let  down 
from  heaven  to  pour  its  reflected  beams  on  a  sleep- 
ing church,  a  benighted,  sensuous  world.  His 
sermons  are  echoes  of  Sinai  and  Gethsemane,  of 
hell  and  heaven.  His  unpremeditated  addresses 
are  powerful  appeals  to  slumbering  consciences, 
or  minute,  appropriate  directions  to  the  inquiring 
spirit.  His  prayers  are  as  the  coming  together  of 
heaven  and  earth.  He  really  beholds  the  eternal 
Majesty.  He  converses  with  the  Most  High  in 
reality ;  and  men  feel  that  prayer  is  real,  —  the 
highest  privilege  and  honor  conferred  on  man. 

Pres.  Edwards  remarks,  that  zeal  and  resolution 
22* 


258  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

are  indispensable  to  the  highest  exercise  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  ministry.  He  says,  "  A  man  of  but 
ordinary  capacity  will  do  more  with  these  qualities 
than  one  of  ten  times  the  parts  and  learning  without 
them.  Those  that  are  possessed  of  these  qualities 
commonly  carry  the  day  in  almost  all  affairs.  The 
very  sight  of  a  thoroughly  engaged  spirit,  together 
with  fearless  courage  and  unyielding  resolution, 
goes  a  great  way  toward  accomplishing  the  effect 
aimed  at."  He  attributes  Mr.  Whitefield's  success 
greatly  to  these  qualities.  "  When,"  he  says,  "  the 
people  see  these  things  in  a  person,  and  to  a  great 
degree,  it  awes  them :  it  seems  to  them  they  must 
yield.  But  while  we  are  cold  and  heartless,  and 
only  go  on  in  a  dull  manner,  we  shall  never  do  any 
good." 

Observe,  however,  that  it  is  not  a  legitimate 
inference  from  this,  that  immediate,  visible  success 
is  the  uniform  test  of  fidelity  and  efficiency.  All 
here  affirmed  is,  that  they  who  have  such  success 
are  men  in  earnest. 

The  most  eminently  successful  pastors  seem  to 
have  been  distinguished  by  these  features :  they 
were  peculiar  in  their  spirit,  their  prayers,  their 
preaching,  their  collateral  labors,  especially  in 
enlisting  others  to  labor.  They  live  under  the 
impulse  of  the  truths  they  preach.  They  pray 
without  ceasing,  for  definite  blessings,  for  imme- 
diate blessings,  for  rich  blessings.  They  study  the 
mystery  of  prayer  in  the  Scriptures,  that  they  may 


MANNER   OF    REVIVAL   PREACHING.  259 

acquire  science,  and  learn  the  holy  art  of  an  elo- 
quence which  reaches  the  heart  of  God.  Their  eye 
is  fixed  on  the  eternal  throne.  Vain,  in  their  esti- 
mation, is  all  human  agency,  apart  from  the  vouch- 
safed power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  They  wait  for 
the  promise  of  the  Father:  and  receive  power 
after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  them. 
Filled  with  that  spirit,  clad  in  the  whole  armor  of 
God,  they  go  forth  in  the  name  of  their  King,  to 
conquer  by  the  might  of  weakness  and  the  power 
of  faith.  Hell  trembles  at  their  coming.  As  Paul 
describes  it,  the  unbeliever  feels,  "  the  secrets  of 
his  heart  made  manifest ;  and  so,  falling  down  on 
his  face,  he  will  worship  God,  and  report  that  God 
is  in  you  of  a  truth."  * 

Their  peculiarities  may  probably  be  comprised 
in  the  following  particulars,  —  their  aims,  topics, 
tone,  style,  and  impressions  on  men's  minds. 

Their  aims  distinguish  them  from  other  preachers 
generally.  They  seek  to  produce  immediate  and 
radical  changes  in  their  hearers.  Once  they  may 
have  sought  to  be  considered  learned  or  eloquent,  to 
make  themselves  and  their  sect  attractive  ;  now  they 
rise  totally  above  that.  To  save  the  lost  was  their 
Master's  aim  ;  and  it  has  become  theirs.  Other 
preachers  may  be  distinguished,  some  as  doctrinal, 
some  instructive,  hortatory,  eloquent,  edifying,  con- 
solatory. But  there  is  such  a  distinctive  form  of 
ministration   of   the  Word,  that   it  just   as   much 

*  I  Cor.  xiv.  25. 


26o  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

requires  a  distinctive  title,  and  with  equal  freedom 
from  invidiousness,  as  the  doctrinal  or  the  eloquent. 
One  aims  to  build  up  himself ;  another,  his  denomi- 
nation, to  attach  men  to  him  and  his  party ;  another, 
to  do  good  in  a  general  and  indefinite  way  ;  a  third, 
to  discharge  his  duty  without  much  solicitude  about 
results.  Then  surely  we  should  distinguish  to  our 
thought,  and  by  some  appropriate  epithet,  a  Very 
different  form  of  preaching,  —  that  which  seeks  to 
revive  the  slumbering,  and  convert  the  uncon- 
verted, and  stimulate  inactive  Christians  to  work. 

The  aim  of  the  Revival-preacher,  then,  is  to  pro- 
duce immediate  and  personal  results.  There  are 
souls  in  that  community  to  be  brought  to  an 
immediate  decision  on  the  point  at  issue  between 
them  and  their  Creator.  There  are  families  in 
that  town  to  be  revolutionized  in  their  modes  of 
life,  and  all  that  speedily,  not  by  the  might 
of  preaching,  but  by  the  power  of  God's  Spirit 
using  adapted  preaching.  "  He  that  winneth  souls 
is  wise."  There  is  no  wisdom  out  of  heaven  com- 
parable to  his. 

This  preacher  begins  with  his  Saviour.  In  his 
presence,  and  under  his  inspiring  smile,  he  takes 
a  commanding  survey  of  the  field,  getting  light 
from  every  quarter,  vigilantly  watching  the  action 
of  minds  under  the  extraordinary  pressure,  the 
currents  of  thought  that  are  passing  through  men's 
minds,  searching  what  stumbling-blocks  there 
may  be,  what  form  of  opposition  Satan  is  starting. 


AIMS   OF    REVIVAL    PREACHING.  26 1 

He  aims  first  at  the  Church.  They  are  in  three 
classes,  —  the  cordial,  the  indifferent,  the  opposed. 
He  aims  to  cheer  the  earnest,  to  create  a  public 
sentiment  which  shall  sweep  the  indifferent  on  its 
mighty  current,  and  drown  opposition.  He  aims 
to  make  the  gospel,  not  a  bouquet  of  flowers,  but 
an  instrument  of  prodigious  power  in  the  hands  of 
its  author ;  not  a  sweet  strain  of  music  to  entertain 
an  audience,  but  "  a  fire  and  a  hammer  "  to  break 
and  melt  the  quartz,  that  the  gold  it  contains 
may  come  into  circulation. 

A  true  Revivalist  has  his  mind  filled  with  Bible 
models,  and  Bible  views  of  preaching.  He  remem- 
bers Noah  preaching  just  two  doctrines,  —  a  deluge 
and  an  ark.  He  has  listened  to  Jonah  in  the 
streets  of  Nineveh,  to  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel,  to 
Hosea  and  Malachi,  to  John  the  forerunner,  to  our 
Lord  and  the  apostles.  They  all  aimed  at  very 
definite  and  immediate  results. 

He  has  examined  the  descriptions  of  the  Word 
by  its  own  inspired  authors.  It  is  a  fire  and  a 
hammer,  perfect,  converting  the  soul,  a  light  to 
the  feet.  He  hears  Paul  say  to  the  Romans, 
Though  your  city  is  mistress  of  the  world,  though 
your  emperors  are  worshipped  as  present  deities, 
though  you  are  elated  by  your  pomp  and  luxuries 
and  victories,  yet  "  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the 
gospel,"  which  you  statesmen,  philosophers,  and 
wits  despise  ;  for  "  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  sal- 
vation."    To  the  Corinthians  he  says,  "  We  preach 


262  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Christ  crucified,  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom 
of  God."  He  says  to  the  Hebrews,  "  The  word  of 
God  is  quick  and  powerful,  and  sharper  than  any- 
two-edged  sword,  piercing"  &c.  John  saw  the 
Lord  in  his  glory ;  and  "  out  of  his  mouth  "  went 
this  sharp,  two-edged  sword. 

This  preacher  is  unwilling  that  the  lightning  of 
heaven  should  become  a  summer  fire-fly  in  his 
hand.  One  of  much  experience  and  success  thus 
speaks  on  this  point,  of  a  right  aim  in  preaching: 
"  I  believe  that  an  early  commencement  and  pur- 
suit of  an  earnest  study  of  the  Bible,  in  connection 
with  a  long  continued  experience  in  Revivals,  and  an 
habitual  aim,  in  my  ordinary  sermons,  to  reach  the 
heart  and  the  conscience  at  every  stroke,  and  the 
habit  of  striking  out,  in  review,  every  clause  and 
word  which  was  not  subservient  to  that  end,  are 
among  the  most  efficacious  means  of  forming  my 
present  manner  of  preaching,  such  as  it  is." 

The  topics  of  revival-preaching  are  also  peculiar. 
Not  that  all  faithful  preachers  do  not  present  the 
same  truths  as  they ;  but  this  class  of  preachers 
see  what  others  seem  to  overlook,  or  not  so  much 
regard,  —  that  a  certain  portion  of  truth  in  Scripture 
is  adapted  to  produce  conviction,  another  repent- 
ance, another  acceptance  of  Christ,  and  so  on. 
For  instance,  I  began  my  ministry  under  this  con- 
viction, and,  accordingly,  drew  out  on  four  pages  of 
paper  a  series  of  topics  under  these  four  heads : 
conviction,  conversion,  sanctification,  eternal  salva- 
tion. 


TOPICS    OF    REVIVAL   PREACHING.  263 

Dr.  Payson,  in  the  opening  of  a  Revival,  preached 
from,  "  Confess  your  faults,  one  to  another,  and  pray 
one  for  another."  At  another  time,  he  opened 
with,  "  the  stumbling-blocks."  Pres.  Edwards 
recommends  that  topic,  as  also  meekness  and  for- 
bearance, heart-searching  by  the  believer,  fasting 
and  prayer,  fidelity  in  moral  duties,  as  important 
agents  in  advancing  the  work  of  God.  Dr.  Porter 
says,  that  preaching  at  such  a  time  should  be  dis- 
tinguished by  being  eminently  evangelical,  methodi- 
cal, biblical,  fervent,  pungent,  instructive,  plain, 
doctrinal,  and  practical. 

Mr.  Finney  states  his  method  to  be,  first,  to 
inform  himself  on  two  points,  —  where  his  hearers 
are  at  the  time  doctrinally,  and  where  they  are 
spiritually.  If  they  have  been  under  the  influence 
of  the  doctrine  of  God's  sovereignty  very  promi- 
nently, he  would  preach  responsibility.  If  he  were 
in  an  Arminian  atmosphere,  he  would  show  God 
on  the  throne.  But  more  particularly,  his  aim 
being  to  get  false  professors  out  of  the  way,  and 
cold  professors  into  the  work  of  Revival,  he  gen- 
erally begins  with  a  thorough  handling  of  the  law, 
and  awakening  the  conscience,  raising  the  thoughts 
of  the  people  to  higher  conceptions  of  God's  re- 
quirements and  the  nature  of  true  holiness,  hum- 
bling the  pride  of  men,  chasing  the  soul  out  of 
every  false  refuge,  and  urging  an  immediate  sur- 
render to  the  Lord's  supremacy,  and  an  immediate 
acceptance  of  his  grace. 


264  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

It  seems  to  be  the  testimony  of  those  whose 
records  I  have  consulted,  that  men  of  various  theo- 
logical schools  agree  in  the  results  of  their  preach- 
ing, v^hile,  from  local  causes  and  their  individual 
theological  views  even,  they  differ  in  the  selection  of 
topics.  In  the  hands  of  some  men,  the  sovereignty 
of  God  in  election  and  regeneration  is  a  Damas- 
cus blade,  a  crushing  mountain  to  human  pride. 
Others  never  present  it  without  a  paralyzing  effect, 
awaking  resistance,  and  discouraging  the  action  of 
the  human  will.  The  Calvinist  and  the  Arminian, 
Whitefield  and  Wesley,  are  both  owned  of  the 
Master  in  the  work  of  converting  the  soul. 

A  certain  Revival  was  conducted  under  "  the 
soul-humbling  doctrines  which  exalt  God,  and  stain 
the  pride  of  human  glory," — the  holiness,  extent, 
and  inflexibility  of  the  moral  law;  our  depravity 
and  our  dependence  on  God  ;  his  sovereignty  and 
universal  dominion ;  the  special  agency  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  mere  grace  through  Christ  the  only  ground 
of  pardon,  —  these  truths,  one  says,  were  like 
"  the  fire  and  the  hammer  that  breaketh  the  rock 
in  pieces." 

Another  says,  "  No  preaching  seems  so  effectual 
to  drive  men  from  their  hiding-places  as  to  tell 
them  plainly  that  they  are  eternally  undone  if  the 
unpromised  mercy  of  God  is  not  displayed  in  their 
favor ;  that  they  have  not  the  least  claim  on  God, 
and,  if  he  does  not  exercise  mercy  toward  them, 
they  are  lost  forever." 


TOPICS    OF    REVIVAL    PREACHING.  265 

Pres.  Edwards  remarks,  "  I  never  found  so  much 
immediate  saving  fruit  in  any  measure  of  any  dis- 
course I  have  offered  to  my  congregation,  as  some 
from  those  words,  '  That  every  mouth  may  be 
stopped  ; '  endeavoring  to  show  from  thence  that  it 
would  be  just  with  God  forever  to  reject  and  cast 
off  mere  natural  men." 

Dr.  Porter  says,  "  There  is  a  kind  of  Antino- 
mian  orthodoxy,  which  abuses  the  doctrine  of 
divine  sovereignty  by  so  representing  man's  de- 
pendence on  it  as  virtually  to  excuse  him  from  all 
obligation  to  obey  the  gospel." 

The  extremes  of  this  subject  he  states  to  be,  "on 
the  one  hand,  making  it  appear  that  there  is  no 
connection  between  a  faithful,  powerful  exhibition 
of  the  truth  and  the  sanctification  of  men's  hearts ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  making  salvation  depend 
entirely  on  human  agency,  leaving  no  place  for  the 
sovereignty  of  God;  thus  producing  ministerial 
pride  when  success  is  granted,  and  utter  discour- 
agements when  it  is  withheld."  He  adds,  "  The 
special  blessing  of  God  usually  attends  only  that 
kind  of  preaching  which  exhibits  in  due  connec- 
tion the  accountability  of  sinners,  and  their  de- 
pendence on  divine  grace." 

I  think  he  is  with  the  Bible  until  he  calls  "  the 
direct  agency  of  the  Spirit  the  doctrine  of  the 
Bible;"  for  he  virtually  affirms,  that  the  Bible 
speaks  of  man  as  regenerated,  first  by  creative 
power,  then  by  moral  force  through  the  truth.  The 
23 


266  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

Bible  makes  no  such  statement,  so  far  as  I  can 
discover. 

Brethren  of  his  school  make  the  doctrine  of 
regeneration  to  be  a  twofold  operation  of  the 
Spirit.  We  find  but  one  in  the  Book.  "  He  hath 
begotten  us  again  unto  a  lively  hope  by  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead."  * 

But  theology  is  not  assigned  to  me  here.  I  am 
inclined  to  the  conclusion  that  no  routine-preaching 
will  be  the  instrumental  cause  of  a  Revival.  There 
are  certain  principles  to  which  the  sovereign  Spirit 
conforms  his  operations ;  and  it  is  our  wisdom  to 
discover  and  conform  to  them. 

But  it  should  be  here  remembered  that  a  pastor 
and  an  evangelist  occupy  very  different  positions. 
The  former  cannot  always  preach  in  one  strain. 
The  demand  for  variety  in  pulpit-ministrations  is 
not  the  result  of  fickleness,  superficialness,  always, 
but  results  from  the  human  constitution  made  in 
God's  image.  He  delights  not  in  monotone.  He 
has  made  not  two  of  the  innumerable  millions  of 
leaves  just  alike.  The  word  we  preach  is  profitable 
for  several  results, — for  indoctrinating,  instructing, 
reproving,  converting,  and  consoling.  The  pastor, 
then,  must  judge  when  he  should  concentrate  his 
power  on  awakening  the  minds  of  his  people,  and 
when  on  consoling  and  guiding. 

But  probably  the  best  use  we  can  make  of  the 
history  of   our  predecessors  in   this  blessed  work 

*  1  Pet.  i.  3. 


TOPICS    OF    REVIVAL    PREACHING.  267 

is  to  get  their  tone  of  feeling,  their  point  of  view 
of  the  work  itself,  and  then  we  must  look  for  spe- 
cial guidance  when  we  come  personally  to  a  new 
specific  Revival. 

I  say  the  tone ;  for  the  tone  of  feeling,  with  its 
appropriate  manner  of  utterance,  may,  on  the  one 
hand,  utterly  misrepresent  the  truth  we  are  preach- 
ing, or  give  full  scope  to  all  its  light  and  all  its 
power.  Logical  proof  of  eternal  punishment  may 
make  hearers  become  Universalists.  As  John  says 
of  confessing  Christ,  I  would  say  of  preaching 
retribution  in  hell :  "  No  man  can  preach  the  dam- 
nation of  a  soul  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  Address- 
ing the  intellect  alone  has  no  tendency  to  subdue 
the  heart.  You  that  would  shudder  to  see  one  of 
your  audience  in  the  anguish  of  delirium-tremens 
must  not  talk  in  cold  blood  about  "  the  quenchless 
fire,  the  undying  worm,  the  weeping  and  wailing, 
and  gnashing  of  teeth." 

And,  probably,  a  deep  feeling  of  the  evil  of  sin  in 
the  preacher's  heart  is  more  convincing  than  any 
intellectual  proof  of  damnation,  and  tends  more  to 
produce  repentance  in  his  hearers. 

Mr.  Robe  of  Kelsyth  says,  "  In  preaching  on 
regeneration,  I  had  more  than  ordinary  tenderness 
merely  in  reading  the  text,  and  could  scarce  do  it 
without  tears."  That  is  one  great  element  of 
pulpit-power. 

A  preacher  once  opened  a  successful  course  of 
Revival-preaching  by  showing  that  Christians  ought 


268  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

to  be  happy.  In  1840  I  had  just  left  a  scene  of 
Revival  in  Philadelphia,  and  was  called  upon  by 
Dr.  Skinner,  at  a  little  prayer-meeting  in  New  York, 
to  make  some  remarks.  I  spoke  from  the  passage, 
"  Be  filled  with  the  Spirit."  *  A  powerful  work  of 
grace  seemed  to  commence  that  night. 

But  Revival-preaching  is  equally  peculiar  in  its 
%tyley  being  marked  in  its  highest  forms  by  solem- 
nity tempered  with  cheerfulness ;  reverence  modified 
by  childlike  familiarity  ;  awfulness  by  tenderness  ; 
profoundness  by  simplicity ;  respectfulness  by 
directness  ;  self-possession  by  earnestness. 

The  man'  no  more  appears  pre-eminently  the 
theologian.  He  has,  indeed,  soared  to  catch  the 
lightning ;  he  has  dived  to  find  the  pearls  :  but  he 
leaves  the  ocean  and  the  clouds  in  his  study,  bring- 
ing only  the  lightning  and  the  pearls  to  the  pulpit. 
He  has  studied  his  subject  in  the  abstract:  he  now 
puts  it  in  the  concrete,  of  the  intensest  form. 
Doctrines  have  now  passed  with  him  from  the 
region  of  cold  intellectual  contemplation,  and 
become  realities,  the  most  momentous,  absorbing, 
arousing,  that  the  mind  can  contemplate.  Every 
doctrine  of  theology  now  comes  a  burning  lava- 
stream  from  the  volcanic  heart.  "  Is  not  my  Word 
afire.?" 

Mr.  Whitefield  and  Newman  Hall  complain  about 
the  reports  of  their  sermons.  But  it  must  be  so  : 
the  most  effective  preaching  for  the  ear  is  not  the 

*  Eph.  V.  18. 


EMOTIONAL   PREACHING.  269 

style  of  an  author.  Mr.  Whitefield's  sermons  were 
"  direct,  abrupt,  full  of  local  allusions  :  his  language 
was  simple  and  colloquial,  abounding  in  abrupt 
transitions,  and  strongly  idiomatic.  The  reader 
misses  the  conversational  manner,  the  tears,  the 
tender,  thrilling,  persuasive  voice." 

Revival-preaching  is  also  peculiar  in  its  mode  of 
presenting  its  topics. 

It  is  said  of  Patrick  Henry,  that  he  used  to  fix 
his  eye  on  a  juryman  to  watch  the  effect  of  his 
speech  on  an  individual.  When  the  countenance 
indicated  that  conviction  had  been  produced,  he 
would  leave  him,  and  select  another,  and  thus  con- 
quer them  one  by  one.  "  The  children  of  this 
world  are  wiser  than  the  children  of  light." 

The  advocate  pleading  for  an  acre  of  land,  the 
fisherman  seeking  a  meal  for  his  family,  the  sports- 
man seeking  the  life  of  a  poor  little  bird,  all  exercise 
judgment,  patience,  earnestness,  good  sense  ;  while 
we  who  are  laboring  for  the  eternal  life  of  souls 
often  content  ourselves  with  saying  things  men 
ought  to  hear,  throwing  our  bait  where  fish  ought 
to  be  and  bite,  firing  where  the  birds  ought  to  be, 
while,  after  all,  we  are  getting  no  verdicts,  catching 
no  fish,  bagging  no  birds.  "  No  :  why  should  we  1 
Is  not  ours  a  holy  profession }  Are  we  not  sent  to 
make  speeches,  throw  out  hooks,  fire  guns  }  What 
care  we  for  verdicts,  for  fish,  for  birds,  for  souls 
converted  !  "  Alas,  brethren  !  our  hearts  too  often 
talk  in  that  strain. 
23* 


270  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

The  climax  of  preaching  to  the  unconverted  may 
be  ilhistrated  by  Grace  DarUng,  dashing  in  her 
life-boat  out  into  the  raging  sea.  She  must  save 
them  then,  or  never. 

But  does  any  one  object  to  this  view  as  favoring 
"  sensational  preaching  "  ?  What  is  sensational  ? 
That  v^hich  produces  feeling.  Let  us  look  for  our 
guidance  to  two  branches  of  human  industry,  —  the 
medical  and  the  histrionic.  The  physician  has 
substances  which  he  calls  sedatives,  and  others, 
stimulants.  Is  he  blamed  by  men  of  sense, 
because,  in  the  exercise  of  his  professional  judg- 
ment, and  under  the  responsibilities  of  his  position, 
he  determines  to  employ  either  ?  If  not,  may  not 
our  profession  blamelessly  do  the  same  ?  Then 
the  actor  illustrates  the  case  by  contrast.  One  of 
the  most  irremediable  evils  of  his  profession  is, 
that  its  sole  aim  is  to  produce  emotion.  And,  when 
emotion  is  made  the  end,  it  is  intellectually  and 
morally  ruinous. 

The  preacher  who  aims  solely  at  producing 
emotion  degrades  the  highest  office  held  by  man 
or  angel.  Let  me  explain  briefly  the  place  our 
adorable  Creator  has  assigned  to  the  emotions  in 
the  complex  life  and  actions  of  responsible  beings. 
The  agreeable  class  are  designed  to  induce  actions 
which  promote  our  own  good  and  that  of  the  race, — 
to  accompany  such  action,  and  make  it  agreeable 
while  it  is  useful. 

The  agreeable  emotions  in  holy  beings  make  the 


EMOTIONAL    PREACHING.  27 1 

,sunshine  of  their  existence.  God  is  called  a 
blessed  Being.  The  agreeable  emotions  in  him 
are  supreme :  the  disagreeable  emotions  excited  by 
the  wrong-doings  of  his  creatures  are  subordinate. 
The  capacity  for  disagreeable  emotions  was  given 
us  that  we  might  be  deterred  from  evil,  before,  in, 
and  after  indulging  it. 

Now,  if  we  inquire  whether  the  Scriptures  have 
emotion-exciting  topics,  agreeable  and  disagreeable, 
there  can  be  but  one  reply.  What,  then,  must 
guide  the  preacher  in  selecting  them  ?  He  must 
aim,  in  preaching,  to  do  just  what  God  intended  to 
effect  in  giving  man  his  emotional  nature,  —  keep 
him  from  evil,  withdraw  him  from  evil,  incite  him 
to  be  good  and  do  good. 

The  emotions  have  a  moral  gradation  among 
themselves.  The  lowest  is  the  fear  of  pain ;  and 
yet  that  is  not  intrinsically,  only  relatively  low.  I 
do  not  believe  Gabriel  is  degraded  by  desiring  not 
to  be  an  eternal  sufferer.  I  can  discover  nothing 
low  in  fearing  God's  wrath,  nothing  unworthy  of 
manhood  in  dreading  the  loss  of  the  soul ;  for,  if 
there  were,  I  think  Jesus  would  never  have  made 
the  appeal  that  calls  it  into  action.  If  it  is  low,  it 
is  only  because  the  other  emotions  are  higher. 

The  practical  rule,  then,  perhaps  to  be  deduced 
from  these  considerations  is,  that  we  must  play  on 
all  the  harp-strings  of  the  spirit  of  man,  aiming 
not  at  the  entertainment  of  our  hearers,  but  their 
eternal  well-being. 


ELEVENTH    LECTURE. 

Preaching  {continued). 

I  WOULD  now  describe  some  features,  which, 
while  they  characterize  all  genuine  preaching,  seem 
to  be  indispensable  for  securing  the  'largest  results 
from  the  special  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It 
is  {a)  Thought-quickening.  You  are  not  going  so 
much  to  show  the  people  what  you  think  on  reli- 
gious topics,  as  to  make  them  think.  That  end 
must  be  held  distinctly  in  the  preacher's  view ;  and 
the  only  means  of  accomplishing  it  is  to  express 
to  the  hearers  thoughts  that  have  awakened  his 
own  spirit. 

The  minds  of  the  people  are  to  be  pressed  or 
drawn  out  of  their  present  torpid  state.  They 
must  be  driven  from  the  holes  in  which  they  have 
been  hibernating,  whether  for  months  or  for  years. 
But  you  can  never  strike  fire  from  flint  with  cotton 
or  wood :  nothing  short  of  steel  will  answer.  The 
prophet  gives  this  description  of  a  certain  class  of 
preachers :  *'  They  sow  pillows  under  all  arm- 
pits." *  The  business  of  true  preaching  is  to  re- 
move those  pillows. 

272  *  Ezek.  xiii.  18. 


PREACHING  FROM  EXPERIENCE.         273 

In  Other  words,  a  Revival  is  a  state  of  quickened 
thought  ;  and  no  preacher  can  advance  it  by  dull, 
stale  thought.  His  own  conceptions  of  divine 
things  must  be  fresh  and  glowing.  Thought  mere- 
ly borrowed,  not  digested,  thought  that  went  no 
farther  than  the  preacher's  memory,  that  made  no 
glow  nor  sparkle  as  it  entered  the  preacher's  mind, 
will  produce  none  in  a  mass  of  stupid  hearers. 

And  this  is  the  first  deliirhtful  characteristic  of  a 
revived  state  of  religious  feeling,  a  quickened  state 
of  the  intellect.  The  Scriptures  to  an  awakened 
heart  become  like  the  winter  sky  to  an  astronomer. 
Every  star  starts  his  mind  on  an  upward,  onward 
flight. 

A  second  element  of  true  preaching.  It  is  {b) 
Enlightening,  The  Holy  Spirit,  in  his  blessed  in- 
fluence, baptizes  the  whole  immortal  being  of  man. 
He  quickens  the  intellect,  and  then  guides  it ;  guard- 
ing it  from  the  vagaries  and  delusions  into  which 
men,  without  his  aid,  will  certainly  fall.  The 
preacher,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  moves  like  a 
torch-bearer  along  the  path  of  benighted  men. 
Light  glows  around  him,  making  things,  before 
obscure  and  unseen,  manifest. 

He  who  is  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
throws  light  on  the  Scriptures.  While  he  is  speak- 
ing, the  hungry  are  feeding  on  bread  they  never 
found  before  in  particular  passages ;  the  thirsty 
come  to  gurgling  fountains  in  the  King's  garden, 
never  before  seen  by  them.     The  riches,  the  beauty, 


274  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

the  deep  significance,  of  the  Word,  is  revealed  to 
their  admiring  eyes.  They  find  it,  to  an  extent 
wholly  unusual,  "  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof, 
for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness." 

This  was  the  glory  of  primitive  preaching,  — 
yes,  of  the  preaching  for  three  centuries,  of  the 
Reformers'  preaching,  and  of  that  of  the  three  cen- 
turies preceding  ours.  But  we  of  the  nineteenth 
century  are  falling  back  in  some  respects.  There 
have  been  periods  in  which  the  sword  of  the  Spirit 
was  felt  to  have  a  keen  edge  every  time  it  was 
handled,  "  quick  and  powerful." 

Too  many  of  our  able  men  have  not  yet  gone 
through  Home's  Introduction  and  the  Prolegomena. 
They  are  still  feeling  whether  the  Bible  is  really  a 
rock,  or  thin  ice,  that  they  may  venture  to  stand 
upon  it  with  all  their  weight,  and  plant  upon  it  bat- 
tering-rams and  fifteen-inch  guns,  and  thunder  at 
the  gates  of  hell  from  it.  They  are  still  engaged 
in  measuring  the  porch  of  the  temple,  —  not  yet 
standing  before  the  Shechinah. 

True  preaching  throws  light  on  experience,  and 
mounts  even  to  the  eternal  throne ;  unveiling  to 
man  the  thoughts,  the  feelings,  the  purposes,  of  the 
God  of  all  holiness  and  mercy.  It  makes  the  cross, 
the  mercy-seat,  the  judgment,  heaven,  hell,  stand 
before  the  hearer's  mind  in  the  vividness  of  cor- 
poreal vision. 

It  especially  throws   light  on  present  duty,  dis- 

sophistries,   unmasking 


PREACHING   FOR   CONVICTION.  275 

idols,  revealing  obligation,  showing  the  believer 
just  v^hat  the  duty  of  the  moment  is,  exhibiting  to 
the  sinner  the  sword  of  Damocles  suspended  by  an 
unwinding  thread  above  him,  while  Christ  is  hold- 
ing salvation's  cup  to  his  lips,  —  and  he  must  drink, 
or  die !  Such  preaching  is  awful.  Men  swooned 
when  Edwards  stood  like  an  angel  from  God, 
echoing  words  from  the  eternal  throne. 

The  old  preachers  of  the  law  used  to  make  the 
services  of  the  sanctuai'y  the  opening  of  the  grand 
assizes  of  the  judgment.  We  have  no  more  of 
that  now,  but  a  good  deal  of  dilettanteism  in  its 
place.  We  live  too  far  from  Sinai  and  from  Geth- 
semane,  busied  with  our  alphabets  and  the  ques- 
tions of  grammar  and  metaphysics. 

This  preaching  is  also  {c)  Heart-searching,  pene- 
trating the  retreats  of  each  soul,  introducing  men 
to  themselves,  unveiling  many  a  chamber  of  ima- 
gery never  before  visited  by  the  conscience  of  its 
owner. 

It  is  a  beautiful  image  the  prophet  employs  when 
he  says  to  the  people,  **  Break  up  your  fallow 
ground."  The  hard,  matted  surface  of  the  heart 
must  be  ploughed  and  cross-ploughed  before  the 
seed  can  find  lodgement  there. 

The  preacher  holds  the  plough,  and  guides  it, 
while  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  presses  it  through  the 
entangled  roots  of  many  years'  growth.  Each  one 
is  led  to  examine  his  own  sins,  and  observe  his 
own  position  in  God's  sight.     The  minister  is  gen- 


276  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

erally  prepared  for  that  by  a  previous  ploughing  in 
his  ov^n  heart.  Whitefield,  Bunyan,  Luther,  Brai- 
nerd,  strikingly  exhibit  that.  Dr.  Nettleton  passed 
through  a  period  of  conviction  which  made  him 
master  of  the  conscience. 

There  are  stumbling-blocks  in  the  Church  and 
the  world  to  be  removed,  and  these  are  personal 
sins  of  heart  and  life.  "  Prepare  ye  the  way  of 
the  Lord,"  the  herald  proclaims.  ''  Take  up  the 
stumbling-blocks  out  of  the  way  of  my  people." 
Open  transgressions  of  the  law  must  be  openly 
confessed  and  forsaken.  All  sin  must  be  aban- 
doned without  parley  or  compromise. 

I  have  heard  of  a  church  brought  to  such  a 
sense  of  its  unfaithfulness,  that  its  members  signed 
a  confession  which  was  read,  as  a  confession  before 
God,  to  the  congregation.  The  effect  was  most 
salutary.  The  hearts  of  the  impenitent  were 
bowed  in  awe  of  this  manifestation  of  judgment 
beginning  at  the  house  of  God. 

Often  there  are  cases  of  backsliders  who  are  not 
really  penitent,  only  awakened  ;  not  humbled,  mak- 
ing a  show  of  zeal.  To  them  should  be  joreached 
some  heart-searching  tests,  that  may  silence  their 
garrulity,  and  bring  them  to  the  cross. 

True  preaching  is  also  {d)  Hcart-qnickenhig.  All 
the  profoundest  sentiments  of  the  soul  are  moved 
by  it,  —  fear,  shame,  regret,  desire,  hope,  love,  com- 
passion, and  zeal,  together  with  earnest  purpose. 
Argument  and  instruction  may  prepare   the   high- 


PREACHING   FOR   CONVICTION.  277 

ways  to  the  heart.  But  only  fire  can  kindle  fire. 
Pastor  Harm's  preaching  is  thus  described :  "  It 
would  be  impossible  to  convey  a  sense  of  the 
fervor  and  holiness  of  the  speaker,  his  utter  simple- 
ness,  the  directness  of  his  country  phrases,  his 
fire,  and  that  love  and  faith  that  color  all  his 
words." 

Perhaps  enough  has  been  said  about  the  rela- 
tion of  the  emotions  to  godliness ;  and  yet  I 
would  add  these  views.  The  emotions  of  your 
hearers  are  excited  every  day ;  and  back  of  them 
stands  what  has  been  called  the  generic  purpose, 
—  choice,  or  election,  of  the  objects  of  supreme 
affection  and  pursuit.  If  that  is  selfish,  ungodly, 
worldly,  every  fibre  of  the  emotional  nature  is 
enlisted  in  its  service.  And  men  generally  will 
never  undertake  the  work  of  a  radical  change  of 
the  generic  choice  in  themselves,  until  a  new  class 
of  emotions  is  excited.  Feeling  has  its  dangers ; 
so  has  medicating.  Medical  remedies  are  an 
appeal  to  slumbering  sensibilities  and  energies  in 
the  system.  On  their  success  depends  health ; 
and  yet  they  may  destroy  life.  And  their  first 
effect  is  disease,  not  health.  If  successful,  they 
simply  remove  impediments  to  the  normal  action  of 
the  system. 

This  preaching  is  also  {e)   Coiiscience-quickenijtg. 

This  power  must  be  aroused,  so  that  its  voice  shall 

be  heard  above  all  the  din  and  strife  of  passion 

and  pride.     The  word  "  must "  is  to  assume  a  new 

24 


278  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

power.  The  v^ill  of  God  is  to  be  made  supreme. 
They  who  have  heretofore  Hved  easily  and  quietly, 
doing  as  it  pleased  them,  must  be  brought  to  feel 
that  all  this  is  to  be  entirely  changed.  The  life  is 
now  to  proceed  from  a  new  impulse,  and  be  directed 
by  a  new  Master. 

True  Revival-preaching  always  brings  con- 
science into  its  place  of  supremacy  as  the  vice- 
gerent of  the  Lord  among  all  the  other  faculties. 

I  have  found  encouragement  in  preaching  by 
comparing  the  impenitent  soul  to  a  rebel  city,  to 
which,  in  the  king's  name,  I  am  laying  siege.  All 
in  sight  is  hostile,  —  artillery,  armed  men,  banners. 
But  I  am  aware  that  the  king  has  friends  in  the 
citadel ;  and  I  have  with  them  an  open  channel 
of  communication.  No  matter  how  frowning  the 
aspect  of  the  walls,  my  business  is  to  supply  the 
loyal  subjects  within  the  citadel  with  weapons  and 
food.  Many  a  discouraged  preacher  would  wax 
very  bold,  if  he  could  but  see  all  that  is  going  on 
in  some  hearts,  back  of  those  frowning  and  those 
stolid  countenances.  Preach  on,  preach  on,  brother ! 

We  are  to  destroy  false  foundations  of  hope,  to 
chase  the  backslider  out  of  every  refuge.  It  is 
worth  any  amount  of  solicitude  and  labor  to  bring 
the  Church,  or  any  portion  of  it,  to  a  right  position. 
A  humbled  church  is  the  mightiest  power  on 
earth,  as  it  is  the  unobstructed  channel  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

This  preaching  is,  moreover  (/)  Conscience-guid- 


PREACHING   TO   THE   CONSCIENCE.  279 

ing.  Clear  exhibitions  of  the  precise  steps  to  be 
taken,  it  always  makes.  Every  one  that  hears  it, 
unless  entirely  hardened  and  blinded  by  unbelief,  is 
made  to  see  the  steps  it  must  begin  to  take,  in- 
stantly to  come  under  the  full  power  of  the  Spirit 
of  God.  In  some  respects,  these  steps  are  always 
the  same,  the  world  over.  In  other  respects,  they 
vary  with  the  varying  circumstances  of  men. 

Among  those  which  are  unvarying  we  may 
mention  the  renewed  repentance  of  God's  people, 
and  their  renewed  consecration  to  the  Lord  by 
solemn  and  affectionate  covenanting ;  not  by  con- 
straint, but  in  the  most  eager  desire  to  live  nearer 
their  Saviour,  and  more  wholly  devoted  to  his 
service.  Out  of  this  comes  a  new  style  of  conver- 
sation for  all,  and  an  utterance  from  many  who 
have  been  as  dumb  children  in  their  Fathers 
family  heretofore.  Then  is  realized  an  increase  of 
prayer  in  the  closet,  and  the  establishing  of  circles 
of  prayer.  This  uniformly,  I  believe,  is  the  result 
of  increased  pungency  in  preaching  to  the  con- 
science. 

In  the  recent  Revival  in  Ireland,  the  prominent 
means  of  advancing  the  work  were  the  narrating, 
by  eye-witnesses  and  converts,  to  others,  what  the 
Lord  had  done  for  them  and  around  them,  the 
establishing  meetings  for  prayer,  and  the  increase 
of  pungent  preaching.  Saints  were  quickened, 
sinners  made  to  utter  the  old  cry,  "  What  must 
I  do  to  be  saved  1 " 


28o  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

Before  closing  this  branch  of  our  subject,  let  us 
contemplate  our  position.  We  will  begin  back 
at  the  mystery  of  the  movement  of  divine  love 
in  the  heart  of  our  God.  He  anticipated  the 
apostasy  of  man ;  and  the  prospect  moved  him 
to  form  the  purpose  of  redemption.  And  a  part 
of  the  plan  devised  by  infinite  mercy  to  accomplish 
that  purpose  v^as  to  organize  a  body  of  men,  once 
rebels  then  redeemed  and  renewed  by  grace,  to 
cultivate  their  powers,  and  employ  them  exclu- 
sively in  persuading  and  guiding  others  to  come 
and  remain  under  the  influences  of  grace. 

We  are,  then,  in  this  elect  company,  ambassadors 
for  Christ,  employed  in  his  service,  in  his  place, 
to  represent  his  claims,  nay,  his  feelings.  The  love 
that  glowed  in  his  heart,  tender,  fervent,  conde- 
scending, self-sacrificing,  —  this  we  should  bring  in 
our  measure  to  this  work. 

The  King's  eye  is  ever  upon  us.  Jesus  is 
observing  us,  to  see  how  we  represent  him  ;  how 
we  do  the  work  which  he  has  so  much  at  heart. 
It  is  perfectly  legitimate  for  us,  also,  to  represent 
to  our  imaginations  that  which  is  real  in  substance, 
but  the  form  of  which  we  may  not  rightly  appre- 
hend :  I  mean  the  cognizance  of  angels  good  and 
bad.  With  what  interest  .they  must  contemplate, 
from  their  contrasted  positions  and  feelings,  the 
spectacle  of  a  man  rising  before  a  thousand  souls 
on  probation,  to  win  them  to  holiness  and  heaven  ! 
Thus  is  the  preacher  surrounded  in  all  his  work. 


THE   PREACHER   AN   AMBASSADOR.  28 1 

But  Satan  is  not  a  mere  spectator  of  this  work. 
He  has  combined  all  the  powers  of  an  archangel 
to  organize  the  spirits  that  have  entered  into  his 
malignant  projects  to  ruin  the  souls  of  men.  "  We 
wrestle  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against 
principalities,  against  powers,  against  the  rulers  of 
the  darkness  of  this  world,  against  spiritual  wicked- 
ness in  high  places."  *  To  pluck  the  soul  from  his 
murderous  grasp,  to  dissolve  the  spell  of  his  en- 
chantments, to  rescue  the  prisoner  from  his  thral- 
dom, this  is  the  preacher's  work. 

Look  on  that  doomed  and  deathless  spirit  before 
you.  In  it  is  a  capacity  for  angelic  purity,  glory, 
service,  blessedness ;  an  equal  capacity  for  a  de- 
mon's malignity  and  misery.  It  can  love  God,  and 
serve  him.  It  can  live  in  the  light  of  his  smile 
forever,  —  well-springs  of  joy  ever  leaping  up  within 
it.  It  may  diffuse  light  and  joy  all  around  it  for- 
ever. 

It  can  also  hate  God  and  goodness  ;  rebel 
against  his  authority;  despise  his  mercy;  wander 
like  a  star  from  the  central  power  into  everlasting 
darkness ;  and  turn  all  its  beauty  to  deformity,  its 
joy  to  wretchedness,  its  hope  to  despair.  It  can 
rush  forever  through  space,  a  quenched,  blackened 
planet,  a  darkling,  dismal  mass  of  corruption  and 
despair. 

See  that  soul !  It  is  brought  before  you  :  it  is 
on  the  sliding  side  of  the  precipice,  but  yet  within 

*  Eph.  vi.  12. 


282  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

mercy's  call  and  reach.  One  hand  is  on  the  latch 
of  salvation's  door :  the  other  holds  the  door-latch 
of  the  eternal  prison.  Oh,  what  a  position  is  that  of 
the  preacher !  His  it  is  to  persuade  that  soul  to 
open  the  door  of  life,  and  enter  upon  the  pil- 
grimage to  heaven.  What  position  more  sublime, 
more  important,  more  urgently  pressed  with  re- 
sponsibility ! 

Every  noblest  quality  of  the  heart,  every  godlike 
affection,  every  grandest  human  feeling,  every 
angelic  power  of  the  human  intellect,  has  here  its 
fullest  scope,  its  widest  sphere.  Why  are  the  ser- 
mons of  George  Whitefield  so  meagre  and  unim- 
pressive on  paper  ?  I  have  already  answered  in 
part ;  but  there  is  more. 

The  reader  has  not  seen  the  man  radiant  with 
the  light  of  that  mercy-seat  he  has  just  left.  He 
has  not  heard  the  introductory  services.  He  does 
not  feel  the  tidal  wave  rolling  and  surging  over  a 
thousand  hearts  around  him.  Then,  again.  White- 
field,  like  every  other  man  preaching  to  save  men, 
shaped  every  sentence  under  the  influence  of  in- 
numerable local  circumstances ;  so  that  words 
which  in  those  circumstances  are  powerful,  because 
they  are  the  rushing,  crushing  avalanche,  are  now 
tame  as  the  tranquil  debris  of  that  avalanche,  as 
they  lie  expended  and  motionless  in  the  valley. 

But  beyond  all  this  is  the  great  fact  that  printed 
words  are,  for  the  emotional  nature  of  man,  the 
feeblest   elements   of  language.      While  Garrick's 


THE   PREACHER   AN   AMBASSADOR.  283 

Statement,  that  Whitefield  could  make  an  audience 
weep  or  tremble  simply  by  his  pronouncing  the 
word  Mesopotamia,  seems  to  be  an  exaggeration,  I 
can  fully  believe  that  his  utterance  of  the  thrice 
holy  name  of  our  Creator  could  thrill  one  hearer 
with  rapture,  and  another  with  terror.  But  to  do 
this  is  no  trick  of  elocution :  it  must  be  the  well- 
ing-up  from  the  soul's  deepest,  purest  fountains,  of 
a  reverence,  a  love,  a  trust,  a  peace,  a  joy,  a  rapture, 
almost  angelic. 

Language  consists  not  of  words  alone,  printed 
or  spoken.  The  eyes  speak.  The  muscles  of  the 
entire  face,  its  flitting  colors  ;  the  tones  of  the 
voice,  its  pitch,  its  pause,  its  rush,  its  tranquil 
movement ;  the  attitude  of  the  body  ;  the  move- 
ments of  the  hand  and  arms,  —  are  all  the  heart's 
telegraphs,  its  electric  conductors. 

Young  gentlemen,  learn  to  preach,  —  to  save  men 
from  present  impenitence,  ending  in  hell,  and  to 
raise  them  to  present  repentance,  ending  in  heaven, 
by  preaching  the  gospel  of  Jesus.  Architecture, 
artistic  music,  mere  learning,  mere  oratory,  you  will 
hold  as  subordinate,  as  mere  instruments,  when  you 
really  pray  and  preach  in  their  presence. 

I  am  not  speaking  of  the  work  of  edification, 
but  of  converting  souls,  when  I  urge  you  to  this 
superhuman  earnestness. 

8.  Removing  Hinderances.  I  have  spoken  of 
preaching  about  stumbling-blocks.  I  now  come  to 
speak  about  removing  them.     There  are  two  forms 


284  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

of  obstruction  to  a  Revival,  —  external  and  internal. 
The  former  may  be  local  customs,  diverting  influ- 
ences, the  presence  of  a  powerful  sceptic  in  a 
village,  unrebuked  scandals  in  the  Church.  Some 
of  these  may  be  removed  by  the  children  of  God. 
Some  they  must  tolerate,  only  pleading  with  God 
about  them. 

The  internal  hinderances  are  personal  and  social. 
Achan  has  a  prohibited  Babylonian  garment  in  his 
tent :  and  Israel  must  be  stayed  in  his  march  and 
his  triumphs.  I  once  heard  of  two  unreconciled 
brethren,  officers  in  a  church.  Prayer-meetings  had 
continued  for  days  with  no  encouraging  sign.  One 
day  one  of  them  was  brought  to  repentance  and 
humility.  He  went  earnestly  to  his  offended 
brother,  grasped  his  hand,  and  tenderly  begged  his 
forgiveness.  The  flood-gates  of  tears  were  opened 
at  that  moment,  and  the  stream  of  mercy  flowed 
in  upon  the  church. 

If  the  hinderance  is  in  the  domestic  life,  business, 
social  or  personal  habits,  it  must  be  removed. 
"  Cast  ye  up,  cast  ye  up,  prepare  the  way,  take 
up  the  stumbling-block  out  of  the  way  of  my  peo- 
ple." *  "  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make 
straight  in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our  God. 
Every  valley  shall  be  exalted,  and  every  mountain 
and  hill  shall  be  made  low  :  and  the  crooked  shall 
be  made  straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain : 
and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  revealed,  and 
all  flesh  shall  see  it  together  ;  for  the  mouth  of  the 

*  Is.  Ivii.  i4« 


WAITING    FOR    A    REVIVAL.  285 

Lord   hath    spoken   it."  *      "  Break  up  your  fallow 
ground ;    for  it  is  time    to   seek  the   Lord  till  he 
come,  and  rain  righteousness  upon  you."  f 
We  reach,  now,  our  second  practical  topic,  — 

II.  —  Waiting  for  a  Revival. 

The  question  is  important,  Should  we  ever  expect 
a  Revival  yet  undeveloped  ? 

It  is  very  manifest  that  we  should  always  be 
aiming  at  the  highest  form  and  largest  amount  of 
good  ;  and  even  then  we  shall  always  find  a  wide 
sphere  for  the  operations  of  that  Spirit  who  is  free 
from  all  dictation,  and  superior  to  all  control. 

But  the  more  difficult  task  is  to  answer  this 
inquiry.  What  degree  of  solicitude  for  manifest  and 
immediate  results  will  an  enlightened  conscience 
require  .-*  From  mere  speculation,  probably,  no 
solution  of  the  question  can  be  obtained  ;  but  as 
matter  of  experience,  when  our  consecration  is 
unreserved,  and  no  selfish  absorption  of  the  sensi- 
bilities prevents  an  overwhelming  solicitude  for* 
other  men's  salvation,  then  it  is  found  that  there 
are  alternations  of  feeling.  At  one  period  the  soul 
is  wrought  to  that  intensity  of  desire  which  is  the 
vital  element  in  importunate  prayer.  Then  ensues 
a  sweet  calm,  breathed  from  some  unperceived 
source  upon  the  spirit,  relieving  it  from  the  painful 
pressure,  which,  carried  farther,  might  have  para- 
lyzed, not  invigorated,  the  executive  powers,  and 

*  Is.  xl.  3-5.  t  Hosea.  x.  12. 


286  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

yet  drav^^ing  them  forth  to  their  utmost  tension  in 
the  most  cheering  and  encouraging  exercise.  Thus 
the  Lord  says  to  his  weary  disciples,  "  Come  apart, 
and  rest  a  while."     "  My  yoke  is  easy." 

Now,  Revivals  come  to  a  parish,  sometimes 
sought,  sometimes  unsought.  Of  the  latter  we 
have  only  to  say  that  every  pastor  is  under  the 
most  solemn  obligation  to  be  a  discerner  of  spirits, 
to  know  '*  the  signs  of  the  times,"  to  discriminate 
soberly  and  justly,  whether  the  new  impulse  upon 
the  people  is  mainly  from  heaven,  or  from  earth  ; 
from  God,  man,  or  Satan.  No  voice  from  heaven 
will  inform  him.  He  must  be  living  near  his 
Saviour,  familiar  with  the  word  of  God,  and  single 
in  his  purpose,  or  he  may  take  a  wrong  position, 
and  either  abet  the  work  of  Satan,  or  attribute  the 
operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  Satan.  That,  you 
know,  was  "  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost "  in 
Jesus'  day. 

Then,  in  regard  to  Revivals  sought  for,  and 
obtained  in  answer  to  prayer  and  by  a  divine  bless- 
ing upon  well-directed  labors,  the  experience  of 
eighteen  centuries  has  taught  the  Church  some- 
thing ;  and  many  believe  (I  am  not  of  them,  nor  yet 
prepared  to  oppose  their  view),  that  there  are  just 
as  definite  and  obvious  laws  of  the  divine  action 
guiding  the  action  of  man  in  the  department  of 
grace  as  in  that  of  nature. 

All  I  consider  myself  authorized  to  say  on  this 
subject  is,  that  there  appear  to  me  more  encourage- 


WAITING   FOR   A   REVIVAL.  287 

merits  for  the  spiritual  agriculturist  than  for  the 
farmer. 

Still  we  may  inquire,  Does  the  Holy  Spirit  act 
arbitrarily  in  originating  Revivals  }  or  does  he  act 
principally  by  laws  not  cognizable  by  man }  or 
does  he  act  by  laws  which  we  may  discover,  and  in 
view  of  which,  as  in  the  material  world,  our  action 
is  to  be  shaped  ? 

It  may  be  agreed  upon  at  once,  from  what  we 
know  of  God's  nature,  that  sovereign  action  with 
him  is  not  arbitrary  action.  His  will  is  never  exer- 
cised without  the  concurrence  of  his  reason,  recti- 
tude, and  goodness.  But  while  there  are  parts  of 
his  ways  inscrutable,  and  not  to  be  anticipated  by 
us,  there  are  others  that  we  can  understand,  because 
either  they  are  revealed  in  his  Word,  or  the  prin- 
ciples they  involve  are  already  embodied  in  some 
portions  of  his  acts  and  works. 

Are  there,  then,  any,  and  if  any  which,  of  his 
ways  discernible  by  us  in  regard  to  commencing  a 
Revival  of  religion  } 

Before  attempting  a  specific  reply,  I  would 
remark,  in  general,  that  God's  unphilosophical  chil- 
dren often  anticipate  his  ways  more  accurately  than 
their  philosophizing  brethren.  The  reason  of  this 
may  be,  that  they  live  in  more  intimate  communion 
with  him,  trust  more  to  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit, 
and  lean  less  to  their  own  understandings.  We 
can  always  approach  God  more  effectually  on  the 
side  of  the  affections,  will,  and  sympathies,  than  on 


288  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

that  of  the  intellect  "  I  dwell  with  the  humble." 
"  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear 
him,"  not  with  them  that  reason  the  most  logically. 
Their  intuitions  are  profounder  than  all  specula- 
tions and  inductions.  Dr.  Beecher  generally  con- 
sulted a  poor  praying  woman  in  one  of  his  parishes 
when  he  thought  the  Lord  was  giving  signs  of  his 
approach. 

The  specific  reply  the  inquiry  should  meet  may 
be  this,  As  any  person  may  be  saved  at  any 
moment  by  believing  on  the  Lord,  so  any  one  can 
have  the  Spirit  at  any  moment,  or  at  any  particular 
period,  by  complying  with  certain  conditions.  And, 
when  one  is  filled  with  the  Spirit,  he  can  move 
others.  The  Psalmist  saw  this  when  he  prayed, 
"  Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation ;  and 
uphold  me  with  thy  free  SpiiHt.  Then  will  I  teach 
transgressors  thy  ways ;  and  sinners  shall  be  con- 
verted unto  thee."  * 

Waiting  for  a  Revival  is  really  a  very  impor- 
tant part  of  the  Revival  itself,  —  the  seed  buried 
in  the  earth.  The  seed-time  and  the  waiting- 
time  equally  constitute  a  portion  of  the  agricul- 
tural year.  Some  of  the  most  interesting  pages 
of  church-history  record  these  seasons.  You  see 
a  type  of  them  in  the  scene  on  Carmel.  The 
prophet  has  set  himself  to  turn  the  key  of  prayer 
until  it  shall  have  unlocked  the  cisterns  of  heaven. 
One  subject  fills  his  mind,  one  desire  engrosses  his 

*  Ps.  li.  12,  13. 


WAITING    FOR    A    REVIVAL.  289 

heart.  Men  and  cattle,  dying  of  thirst  and  hunger, 
give  pain  to  his  generous  heart.  He  intends  to  He 
a  suppHant  at  mercy's  footstool  until  the  waters  are 
poured  out  from  on  high.  He  is  waiting  in  prayer, 
in  patience,  in  confident  expectation.  He  is  wait- 
ing upon  God  and  for  God. 

The  mode  of  waiting  for  the  Lord  is  worthy  of 
the  most  serious  and  prayerful  investigation.  In 
the  physical  department  of  life,  men  are  growing 
truly  wise.  They  know  that  a  wheat-crop  depends 
upon  a  thousand  forces  totally  beyond  their  control. 
Their  sense  of  dependence  on  God,  however,  does 
not  make  them  indolent  and  inactive.  The  uncer- 
tainty whether  the  sun  may  shine  sufficiently  or 
too  much,  whether  there  will  be  too  much  or  too 
little  rain,  does  not  check  their  diligence  in  prepar- 
ing for  a  crop.  They  act,  in  all  this,  on  the  princi- 
ple stated  by  Moses :  "  Secret  things  belong  unto 
the  Lord  our  God  ;  but  those  things  which  are 
revealed  belong  unto  us  and  our  children  forever, 
that  we  may  do  all  the  words  of  this  law."  *  The 
secret  things  are  God's  motives  and  rules  of  action  ; 
the  revealed  are  ours. 

Waiting  for  a  Revival,  then,  includes  two  lines  of 
action  combined  with  a  state  of  passive,  hopeful 
submission.  These  lines  of  action  are  directed 
heavenward  and  earthward,  toward  God  and  toward 
man,  —  prayer  that  can  wait,  but  can  take  no  delay 
as  a  sign  of  refusal  from  God  ;  persuasion  that  can 
take  no  denial  from  man. 

25  *  Deut.  xxix.  29. 


290  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

The  spirit  of  prayer  is  essential  to  him  M^ho 
truly  waits  upon  and  for  the  Lord.  Any '  other 
waiting  or  patience  is  only  indolence  and  pre- 
sumption. When  the  Psalmist  speaks  of  wait- 
ing, he  thus  expresses  himself :  "  I  waited  patiently 
for  the  Lord  ;  and  he  inclined  unto  me,  and  heard 
my  cry."  *  So  that  he  was  crying  to  the  Lord  in 
his  waiting. 

Conjoined  with  this  must  be  direct  efforts  for 
men's  conversion.  The  chief  point  to  be  secured 
seems  to  be  this,  obtaining  men's  sustained  atten- 
tion to  the  Word.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like 
unto  a  man  having  a  house  which  he  desires  to  sell. 
He  would  have  a  thousand  pieces  of  gold  in  ex- 
change for  it.  But  the  man  to  whom  he  offers  it 
has  no  interest  in  it,  no  sense  of  its  value,  while  he 
fully  appreciates  his  thousand  pieces  of  gold.  The 
owner  must,  then,  take  him  to  the  house,  and  fix  his 
attention  on  its  beauties  and  advantages  in  detail. 
Thus  the  gold  grows  lighter,  and  the  house  weight- 
ier. So  men  come  to  part  with  all  for  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  But  by  Sunday  night,  generally,  they 
have  not  more  than  reached  the  front-door.  "  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth  violence,  and  the  vio- 
lent take  it  by  force,"  f  the  Lord  has  declared. 
Gen.  Grant  intended  to  fight  on  that  line  all  sum- 
mer ;  and  he  did  fight  until  rebellion  collapsed. 

Let  us  now  come  to  the  third  practical  point. 

*  Ps.  xl.  I.  t  Matt.  xi.  12. 


WORKING   IN   A   REVIVAL.  29I 

III.  —  Working  in  a  Revival. 

Almost  every  thing  said  on  the  point  of  prepara- 
tory v^ork  belongs  to  this  stage.  Yet,  as  several 
new  features  now  present  themselves,  some  modifi- 
cation of  those  directions  is  required.  Faith  in 
the  supernatural  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  earnest 
desire,  fervent  prayer,  personal  consecration,  con- 
tinuous aggression  on  Satan's  territory,  are  still 
demanded. 

The  modifications  now  required  respect  the 
preaching,  general  directions  of  the  work,  thanks- 
givings, and  guiding  inquirers. 

1.  The  preaching  must  shape  itself  to  the  pecu- 
liar development  of  the  work  ;  for  it  never  is  alike 
in  two  seasons  or  in  two  places,  any  more  than  in 
its  minor  features. 

2.  Special  phases  of  the  movement  may  demand 
special  counsels  and  modes  of  working.  Impru- 
dent courses,  extreme  manifestations  of  feeling, 
misunderstandings,  peculiar  impediments,  may  pre- 
sent themselves,  and  call  for  peculiar  measures. 
Things  in  themselves  undesirable  it  may  be  expe- 
dient to  let  alone,  because  calling  attention  to  them 
as  of  much  importance,  or  awaking  controversy 
about  them,  may  do  more  evil  than  the  things 
themselves.  I  have  been  in  Revival-work  with 
Mr.  Hammond,  and  others,  who  were  useful ;  but 
I  should  hesitate  much  before  entering  upon  work 
with  them  again.     I  would  not  check  them  in  the 


292  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

midst   of    the   work  ;    but   a   repetition    of    their 
courses  I  should  much  disHke. 

The  question  has  been  asked,  what  opinion  we 
should  form  in  regard  to  the  relating  of  experience. 
It  would  require  more  time  than  our  limits  allow  to 
give  a  full  reply  on  the  point.  Briefly  it  may  be 
said,  there  are  here,  as  everywhere,  two  extremes. 
Some  churches  and  believers  go  to  that  of  absolute 
reticence.  They  will  talk  of  their  bodily  condition, 
their  worldly  plans,  the  kindness  of  friends,  and 
especially  the  unkindness  they  have  experienced  ; 
but  they  never  say  with  the  inspired  believer, 
*'  Come  and  hear,  all  ye  that  fear  God,  and  I  will 
declare  what  he  hath  done  for  my  soul."*  The 
Psalms,  as  records  of  personal  religious  experience, 
reprove  this  reticence.  Paul,  on  at  least  three 
occasions,  introduced  the  scene  of  his  conver- 
sion into  his  addresses  ;  and  his  epistles  abound 
in  descriptions  of  his  own  feelings.  Thus  entire 
reserve  on  this  subject  is  not  founded  on  scriptural 
authority.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  practice 
fraught  with  many  dangers.  I  have  watched  the 
class-meeting  with  interest.  It  is  my  conviction, 
from  what  I  have  learned  there,  that  unless  it 
becomes  a  mere  conference  and  prayer  meeting, 
and  unless  the  members  are  highly  cultivated  angels, 
and  the  leader  an  archangel,  it  is  impossible  to 
save  it  from  degenerating  into  routine  generally, 
and  vapidness  and  cant  in  many  cases. 

*  P»  Ixvi.  16, 


WORKING    IN    A    REVIVAL.  293 

But  in  Revivals  the  judicious  employment  of  it 
is  very  useful. 

I  was  also  asked  whether  women  should  exhort 
and  pray  in  public  assemblies.  I  am  aware  that  it 
is  favored  by  many  churches.  When  this  question 
was  proposed  to  me  by  a  class  of  students,  my 
reply  was,  Paul  says,  No ;  and  he  is  authority  in 
some  sections  of  the  church.  Yet,  immediately 
after  writing  that  sentence,  my  eye  lighted  on  the 
passage  in  Acts  xxi.  9  :  "  And  the  same  man " 
[Philip]  "had  four  daughters  which  did  prophesy;  " 
which  I  have  been  accustomed  to  understand  as 
meaning,  speaking  eloquently  on  divine  themes  in 
meeting.  And  Peter  says  from  Joel,  "  Your  daugh- 
ters shall  prophesy."     There  I  leave  it. 

3.  Gratitude  and  tJ tanks  giving  are  important 
steps  in  a  Revival.  Mere  supplication,  without 
acknowledging  the  answers  to  prayers,  is  a  painful 
manifestation  of  our  degraded  spiritual  condition. 
*'  Make  known  your  requests  with  thanksgiving " 
is  the  rule  of  the  kingdom.  There  is  danger,  with 
persons  of  a  certain  temperament,  that  they  may 
forget  to  temper  their  joy  and  thanksgiving  with 
reverence.  The  angels  rejoice  and  praise  and  ren- 
der thanks  ;  but  they  veil  their  faces  and  their  feet 
with  their  wings  when  they  do  it. 

Prominent  still  in  this  stage  of  the  work  is, 

4.  Prayer.  It  is  not  easy  to  keep  it  on  a  high 
ground,  earnest,  but  humble  ;  and  there  is  a  danger 
to  be  watched.     Prayer  is  directly  an  action  of  man 

25* 


294  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

Godward,  an  expression  of  the  deepest  feelings  of 
his  heart  :  indirectly,  it  is  powerfully  impressive  on 
human  sensibilities.  Here  lies  the  danger.  I  have 
seen  a  prayer-meeting  used  chiefly  with  reference 
to  its  impressiveness.  The  instant  they  who  offer 
the  prayers  take  that  position,  the  impressiveness 
is  lost.  It  may  be  a  very  good  exhortation  or 
meditation  ;  but  its  impressiveness  as  prayer  ceases 
the  instant  it  ceases  to  be  expressive  to  God  of  real 
want. 

So  long  as  there  are  some  in  the  Church  who 
are  not  satisfied,  like  the  King  of  Israel,  with  smit- 
ing thrice,  but  long  for  a  larger  blessing;  or,  in 
other  words,  so  long  as  intense  desire  for  the  work 
of  the  Spirit  to  be  continued  exists  in  some  hearts, 
and  these  continue  in  prayer,  —  the  energized 
prayer  of  the  righteous,  that  availeth  much,  —  so 
long  the  work  may  continue,  if  it  were  to  the  mil- 
lennium. 

Your  prayers  are  shaped  by  your  theology,  and 
they  preach  it.  Get,  then,  a  very  distinct  view  of 
your  position  in  supplicating  for  an  impenitent  sin- 
ner. Keep  in  view  two  of  God's  sentiments  or 
attributes,  and  his  entire  relations  to  the  sinner. 

Before  the  justice  of  God,  never  take  the  rebel's 
side :  the  Advocate  we  have  in  heaven  never  does. 
Hence  it  is  said,  "  If  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  Advo- 
cate with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous."  * 
Take  the  sinner's  part  only  before  the  mercy  of 

*  I  John  ii.  1. 


WORKING    IN    A    REVIVAL.  295 

God.  Pray  on  the  side  of  God's  justice  and  of  the 
sinner's  urgent  need.  It  is  to  me  shocking  to 
hear  a  prayer  that  calls  the  sinner  a  "  mourner," 
when  he  is  merely  anxious  to  save  his  soul,  but  not 
to  abandon  his  pride,  self-will,  and  self-righteous- 
ness, neither  penitent,  submissive,  nor  believing  ; 
for  Jesus  has  made  that  epithet  of  mourner  sacred 
to  the  penitent.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  dealing  with 
this  rebel  in  what  direction  ?  Convincing  him 
that  he  is  a  sinner,  guilty,,  rebellious,  helpless  ;  de- 
bating with  him  about  his  life,  his  heart ;  holding 
to  his  view  a  righteousness  he  has  not,  yet  must 
obtain  or  perish,  —  a  judgment  to  which  he  is  hast- 
ening, and  for  which  he  is  utterly  unprepared. 
Take,  then,  the  side  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  your 
supplications. 

Some  praying  in  Revivals  may  be  illustrated  by 
a  neighbor  entering  a  house  in  which  the  father  is 
trying  to  subdue  the  stubborn  heart  of  a  rebellious 
son ;  and  the  neighbor  takes  the  rebel's  side,  and 
fortifies  him  in  his  rebellion. 

We  now  turn  to  notice  a  peculiar  measure,  called, 
5.  "  T/ie  a7ixious  seat!'  The  title  was  peculiarly 
unhappy.  It  can  easily  and  properly  be  made 
ridiculous  :  it  easily  becomes  cant.  It  is  peculiarly 
offensive  to  certain  persons  just  awakened  from 
spiritual  torpor,  to  be  classified  thus  by  their  ten- 
derest,  profoundest  feelings,  and  to  hear  that  term 
associated  with  the  business-like  talk  into  which 
people  easily  slide  when  the  reverential  regard  of 


296  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

the  Holy  Spirit's  operations  has  passed  away,  as  it 
so  often  does. 

But  we  are  now  to  deal  with  the  thing  itself.  Its 
essential  feature  is  calling  persons  who  have 
become  solicitous  about  their  spiritual  condition, 
and  desire  to  receive  suitable  instructions,  to  sepa- 
rate themselves  from  the  congregation,  and  take 
seats  apart,  where  prayers  will  be  offered  specifically 
for  them,  and  counsel  be  given  them. 

Is  it  a  desirable  practice  .''  In  certain  cases  it 
seems  to  be  precisely  the  step  that  enlightened  zeal 
in  a  pastor  would  take.  But  as  soon  as  it  is  used 
mechanically  or  superstitiously,  as  a  part  of  a  Re- 
vival-routine or  machinery,  it  becomes  decidedly 
mischievous.  Instead,  therefore,  of  attempting  to 
decide  in  the  abstract  when  and  where  it  may  be 
safely  employed,  I  will  set  before  you  its  advantages 
and  its  perils. 

THE    ADVANTAGES. 

a.  It  has  often  proved  a  most  efficient  means  of 
fixing  the  mind  in  that  momentous  decision  by 
which  the  dividing-line  between  life  and  death  is 
crossed.  (Charles  Wesley  says,  "  Oh  that  blessed 
anxious  seat ! "  &c.)  It  operates  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple, in  many  cases,  as  the  pledge. 

b.  Its  effect  on  the  wavering,  to  see  others  so 
definitely  expressing  decision,  is  powerful. 

c.  Its  effect  on  a  church  is,  for  a  time,  very  bene- 
ficial.    But  in  this  it  shows  itself  to  be  a  human 


WORKING   IN   A   REVIVAL.  297 

device.     Unlike  the  divinely-ordained  instruments 
of  good,  it  wears  out. 

d.  It  encourages  the  inquirer  to  find  the  sym- 
pathy which  his  case  requires. 

EVILS    AND    DANGERS. 

a.  Inquirers  easily  substitute  the  mechanical  act 
for  the  spiritual  step  that  leads  to  the  Saviour.  I 
have  known  leaders  to  become  so  earnest  in  urging 
to  this  bodily  exercise,  that  it  seemed  to  me  cer- 
tain some  of  those  thus  urged  would  lose  sight 
of  the  spiritual  objects  which  are  the  only  real 
magnet  to  draw  the  life  into  new  channels,  while 
their  attention  was  engrossed  with  the  outward. 

b.  And,  when  they  yield  to  this  urgency,  there  is 
some  danger  they  may  substitute  the  outward  act 
for  the  faith  which  saves,  depending  on  the  meas- 
ure instead  of  Christ. 

c.  The  leader  is  often  placed  in  a  very  undesira- 
ble position.  He  has  undertaken  a  public  contest 
with  the  inquirers  ;  and  I  have  seen  one  become 
angry  because  he  was  foiled  in  it.  This  can  be 
avoided,  however,  by  simply  making  the  offer,  and 
not  undertaking  to  urge  the  step. 

d.  The  inquirer  sometimes  is  hardened  by  his 
resistance  to  the  minister ;  so  that  he  the  more 
easily  resists  the  Spirit  of  God.  His  success  in 
the  contest  with  God's  servant  emboldens  him. 

e.  The  attention  of  the  Church  becomes  diverted 
from  the  mercy-seat,  to  watch  the  success  of  this 


29S  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

measure,  vv^ith  mixed  emotions  of  true  zeal,  curios- 
ity, and  a  party  spirit. 

I  have  known  an  evangelist  who  seemed  to  be 
conscious  of  considerable  tact  in  manipulating  an 
audience.  His  aim  seemed  to  be  to  get  his  hearers 
on  their  feet,  for  any  one  of  twenty  objects. 


TWELFTH   LECTURE. 

Working  in  a   Revival  {continued). 

We  meet  now  another  phase  of  the  work,  — 
6.  Guiding  Inquirers.  When  the  Spirit  of  God 
moves  on  the  hearts  of  the  people,  he  begins,  as 
the  Saviour  states,  by  convincing  of  sin.  The 
discovery,  by  the  sinner,  of  guilt  and  danger,  never 
so  seen  and  felt  by  him  before,  also  reveals  to  him 
both  his  lack  of  knowledge  and  need  of  sympa- 
thy. The  preacher  must,  accordingly,  now  become 
more  directly  and  personally  and  minutely  the 
guide  of  the  inquirer  after  the  way  of  life ;  and  for 
this  work  he  and  every  disciple  should  seek  to 
become  qualified. 

What,  then,  are  the  qualifications  needed  .^  The 
first  of  all  are  rightly  developed  and  balanced  sym- 
pathies. A  heart  full  of  loyalty  to  God,  and 
sympathy  with  his  feelings,  is  indispensable,  as  I 
endeavored  *  to  show  in  regard  to  prayer  for  the 
awakened.  You  are  acting  the  solemn  part  of  an 
ambassador  to  a  rebel  province,  of  a  mediator 
between  a  parent  and  his  obstinate  child.  You 
must  do  more  injury  than  good,  if  you  do  not  fully 

sustain  the  government  you  represent,  or  the  par- 

299 


300  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

ent  for  whom  you  mediate.  The  rebel  must  yield, 
the  child  must  submit ;  and  your  deep  conviction 
must  be,  that  the  government  is  right,  or  the 
parent  is  right,  and  the  rebel  or  child  is  wrong; 
and  the  feelings  must  coincide  with  the  judgment 
in  the  case. 

Sympathy  with  the  guilty,  ruined  soul,  is  equally 
indispensable.  If  the  inquirer  has  an  inadequate 
sense  of  his  guilt  and  danger,  the  want  of  tender 
solicitude  on  your  part  tends  to  increase  his  insen- 
sibility :  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  feels  deeply,  your 
lack  of  sympathy  tends  to  discourage  him. 

In  a  word,  to  work  with  the  spirit  of  God,  your 
views  and  feelings  must  be  in  harmony  with  his ; 
but  he  feels  deeply  the  dishonor  done  to  God  by 
the  sinner,  and  also  the  sinner's  terrible  condition 
and  prospects. 

Clear  and  abiding  perception  of  our  relative 
position  in  this  work  is  important.  We  are  but 
secondary  instruments  ;  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 
being  first,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  the  efficient  agent 
in  regenerating  a  soul. 

A  knowledge  of  the  way  in  which  the  Spirit 
leads  the  sinner  is  indispensable.  It  is  revealed  in 
the  general  form.  We  must  learn  to  apply  it  to 
specific  cases  ;  and  this  is  done  by  close  and  judi- 
cious comparison  of  Scripture  with  the  experience 
of  converts. 

What,  then,  must  the  guide  attempt  to  do  ?  He 
must  not  attempt  to  interfere  with  the  freedom   of 


WORKING   IN   A   REVIVAL.  30I 

either  the  spirit  of  God,  or  the  spirit  of  man.  No 
two  human  faces  are  precisely  alike  ;  and  yet  every 
human  face  bears  the  great  family  likeness  more 
or  less.  Do  not  attempt,  therefore,  to  make  any 
particular  experience  the  model  for  every  other  aim 
at  certain  great  results,  which  may  perhaps  be  thus 
stated,  —  the  voluntary  and  thorough  turning  from 
sin  to  holiness,  the  thorough  and  absolute  accept- 
ance of  a  free  salvation,  the  entire  trust  of  the 
soul  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  unreserved  surrender 
of  the  affections  and  will  to  him. 

This  is  the  issue  to  which  each  must  come.  But 
the  variety  of  the  paths  which  men  take  to  reach 
the  Saviour,  and  the  variety  of  the  channels 
through  which  the  guide  must  reach  it,  is  very 
great.  I  would,  then,  attempt  to  make  for  you  a 
classification  of  cases  more  or  less  complete.  There 
are,  first,  — 

The  superficial  in  thought  and  sensibility. 
These  are  hard  cases,  in  which  the  guide  is,  for  a 
time,  to  do  all  the  thinking  and  feeling.  One  says, 
"  I  should  like  to  be  a  Christian ;  but  I  have  no 
sense  of  my  sinfulness." 

Such  case§  are  trying  and  humiliating,  unless 
you  are  in  close  communion  with  God,  and  yourself 
feeling  deeply  the  evil  of  sin,  its  hatefulness,  and 
danger.  If  in  that  state  of  mind,  it  is  easy  to 
press  your  own  views  and  feelings  on  the  inquirer, 
with  a  deep  conviction  that  he  possibly  must  be 
saved  now  or  never.  If  not  in  that  state  of  mind, 
26 


302  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

it  may  be  best  to  pray  for  him  rather  than  talk 
much  to  him  out  of  a  cold  heart. 

But  no  one  should  be  permitted  to  leave  you  in 
this  state  until  you  have  done  every  thing  in 
your  pov^er  to  disturb  this  unhallowed  tranquil- 
lity. Alarm,  then,  if  possible  ;  strike  some  chord 
of  the  conscience  so  violently,  that  it  must  vibrate. 
Perhaps  you  may  awaken  even  some  nobler  sen- 
timent of  the  heart. 

The  morbidly-timid,  conscientious,  discouraged, 
and  legally-inclined  inquirer  will  be  found.  One 
says,  "  I  see  so  much  imperfection  in  the  Church, 
that  I  shall  not  trouble  myself  about  becoming  a 
Christian."  To  answer  such  a  fool  according  to  his 
folly,  you  might  reply,  "  If  the  Church  is  so  imper- 
fect, do  you,  and  all  such  conscientious  persons, 
enter  it,  and  make  it  better."  But  when  you 
meet  a  gentle,  timid  spirit,  remember  what  was 
said  of  your  Lord,  "  He  shall  not  break  the  bruised 
reed,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax."  If  a  soul  is 
discouraged,  search  out  the  views,  real  or  fancied, 
that  discourage  it,  and  proclaim  to  it  with  a  full 
heart  the  cordial  invitations  and  the  rich  promises 
of  the  gospel.  *' Whosoever  will ; "  ring  the  changes 
on  that.  If  it  is  a  legal  spirit,  one  that  is  waiting 
to  do  half  the  work  of  salvation  before  accepting 
Christ's  half,  reveal  to  it  with  the  utmost  discrimi- 
nation just  wherein  the  gospel  differs  from  the 
law. 

Show  him,   that,  while  there   are   conditions  to 


WORKING    IN    A    REVIVAL.  303 

fulfil  that  he  may  be  saved,  they  are  exactly  not  the 
things  he  is  trying  to  do.  He  is  trying  to  become 
very  good  before  coming  to  Christ.  The  gospel 
rule  is,  come  to  Christ  in  order  to  become  good. 
He  is  trying  to  reach  a  point  where  he  can  feel  he 
has  something  to  offer  Christ  not  quite  so  unlovely 
as  his  case  is.  Christ's  requirement  is,  that  the 
sick  bring  their  loathsome  leprosy,  and  not  cure 
it  before  coming  to  him. 

I  have  seen  a  tract  recently,  which  must  do 
much  mischief.  Its  instruction  is  summed  up  in 
this,  Believe  that  your  sins  are  pardoned,  and  you 
shall  be  saved ;  that  is,  believe  a  falsehood,  which 
is  the  condition  of  salvation.  No  one's  sins  a.re 
forgiven  until  he  has  believed  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  This  belief  embraces  two  exercises  of 
trust  or  belief,  —  belief  in  a  truth,  and  trust  in  a  per- 
son. But  what  is  the  truth  to  be  believed  ?  Not 
this,  that  the  sins  of  one  John  Jones  are  forgiven, 
for  there  is  no  such  declaration  in  the  Scriptures, 
but  that  the  sins  of  every  individual  in  a  certain 
class  are  forgiven.  If  I  am  in  that  class,  then  I 
may  make  the  inference,  I,  John  Jones,  am  forgiven. 

The  sceptical  and  speculative  may  often  present 
themselves  as  inquirers,  with  more  or  less  sin- 
cerity. 

One  of  two  courses  is  before  you,  —  meet  them 
on  their  own  ground,  and  reason  with  them  ;  or 
stand  on  your  ground  of  faith,  and  press  their 
consciences  with  the  things   you  see  to  be   real. 


304  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

You  may  find  in  Spencer's  "  Pastor's  Sketches  "  a 
splendid  specimen  of  the  first  method.  It  is  the 
first  in  the  series.  If  you  take  the  latter  course, 
you  must  urge  him  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate 
v^ithout  delay,  informing  him,  that,  in  that  case, 
he  would  go  but  a  short  distance  before  he 
would  come  to  the  house  of  one  named  Inter- 
preter, who  is  accustomed  to  clearing  difficulties 
from  the  paths  of  honest  inquirers.  "  If  any  man 
will  do  his  will,  he  shall  know "  all  that  is  neces- 
sary about  Jonah's  whale  and  the  other  stumbling- 
blocks. 

Then  there  are  the  self-conceited.  Their  case  is 
difficult;  but  some  plain  dealing  from  the  word 
of  God  out  of  a  tender  and  earnest  heart  may  reach 
even  them. 

The  self-righteous  need  to  be  searched  by  the 
law  applied  to  the  motives  of  the  heart  and  the 
details  of  life. 

The  self-deceived  will  inquire  sometimes  for 
light  "  What  shall  I  do  that  I  may  inherit  ever- 
lasting life .?  "  was  proposed  by  one  of  this  class  to 
the  Master  himself,  who  took  this  course  with 
him  :  he  brought  a  test  that  revealed  the  utter 
hollowness  of  all  his  goodness. 

The  self -justifying  will  meet  you.  If  one  says 
he  cannot  repent,  assume  it  to  be  true,  and  then 
tell  him  his  doom  is  fixed  ;  for  a  soul  that  cannot 
repent  cannot  enter  heaven.  If  he  replies,  that  he 
meant  only  to  say,  "  Unless  God  converts  me,"  then 


WORKING    IN    A    REVIVAL.  305 

tell  him  that  he  ought  to  be  very  much  alarmed,  if 
he  believes  that ;  for  he  does  not  know  that  it  will 
ever  please  God  to  convert  him.  You  may  meet, 
too,  the  stubborn  rebel.  Take  firm  ground  with 
him.  Hold  him  to  God's  terms,  and  yield  nothing 
to  him.  If  you  meet  the  declining,  losing  convic- 
tion and  diminishing  in  earnestness,  take  the 
alarm  yourself,  and  grasp  the  soul  sliding  down  to 
the  abyss.  Show  the  peril  of  quenching  the  Spirit. 
Talk  with  tender  earnestness  of  this  fearful  con- 
dition. You  may  meet  the  unconsciously  behev- 
ing.  We  see  the  evidence  of  faith  in  them,  which 
is  not  obvious  to  their  own  sight.  Perhaps  it  is 
safe,  very  rarely,  for  us  to  express  a  positive  belief 
to  such  persons,  that  they  are  regenerated ;  but 
we  must  beware  of  trying  to  carry  them  back  to 
the  ground  they  occupied  before  conversion.  It  is 
safe,  however,  to  urge  them  to  exercise  so  strong  a 
faith  in  Christ,  that  they  shall  become  conscious 
of  its  exercise. 

We  are  sometimes  in  a  position  where  we  must 
present  tests  of  character  or  conversion.  The  main 
points  seem  to  be  these  :  — 

Have  you  a  right  apprehension  of  sin  as  guilt,  as 
a  perverted  will,  as  opposition  to  God,  as  vile  and 
ruinous  in  any  and  all  of  its  forms  .'* 

Is  there  a  radical  renunciation  of  pride,  selfish- 
ness, and  self-will }  Does  the  soul  come  self-con- 
demned, despairing  in  self  and  every  creature,  to 
rely  solely  on  Christ }  Is  Christ  really  accepted 
26* 


306  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

and  relied  upon  ?     Is  there  an  unreserved  consent 
to  consecrate  all  to  Christ  ? 


We  now  reach  our  fourth  practical  point,  aiming 
to  determine,  — 

IV.  —  How  A  Revival    should  be  brought  to 
A  Close. 

The  expression  may  be  startling  to  some  who 
hear  It.  **  A  Revival  ought  never  to  close,"  they 
affirm.  "  This  Revival  never  will  close,"  is  a  remark 
frequently  made  in  these  blessed  seasons.  But 
there  is  a  hurtful  misapprehension  here.  I  do  not 
affirm  that  it  is  not  possible  for  a  church  to  be 
making  continual  progress.  Many  a  church  has 
lived  without  declension  during  an  entire  pastorate; 
some,  even  longer. 

But,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  a  Revival  cannot 
be  a  Revival  forever.  The  term  is  a  relative  one. 
It  presupposes  a  previous  state  of  coldness,  a  pres- 
ent rising  from  the  dead.  But  it  ceases  to  be  a 
Revival,  when  the  quickened  state  has  become  the 
established  order  of  things. 

And  then,  again,  a  Revival  includes,  like  a  harvest, 
like  the  medical  treatment  of  an  invalid,  a  concen- 
tration of  effort,  a  remedial  appliance  that  must  be 
temporary.  If  any  imagines  this  involves  a  decline 
of  personal  piety,  he  rnisapprehends  the  subject. 


CLOSING   A   REVIVAL.  307 

Assuming,  then,  that  this  tension  of  feehng  and 
concentrated  attention  cannot  be  permanent,  the 
pastor  should  seek  after  the  best  method  of  util- 
izing this  social  excitement;  thus  turning  it  into 
healthy  channels  of  personal  spiritual  cultivation, 
holy  living,  and  Christian  beneficence.  I  would, 
then,  suggest  that  he,  — 

I.  Guard  the  change  from  becoming  a  declension 
of  personal  piety ;  for,  if  that  is  what  any  understand 
by  closing  a  Revival,  it  should  be  regarded  with 
horror.  We  have  seen  Revivals  close  shabbily, 
shamefully,  in  ways  that  disgusted  the  cautious,  and 
made  sport  for  the  enemy. 

The  closing  of  a  Revival  should  correspond  to 
the  end  of  harvest.  The  farmer  is  no  less  zealous 
or  watchful ;  only  he  begins  to  work  differently. 
There  is  a  change,  but  no  interruption  of  the 
farming. 

It  seems,  then,  of  the  first  importance  that  Chris- 
tians should  be  particularly  counselled  and  persuaded 
to  recognize  the  greatness  of  the  blessing  enjoyed, 
and  be  quickened  by  it  to  a  closer  walk  with  God. 
Let  the  time  given  to  the  lecture-room  now  be 
bestowed  upon  the  closet ;  social  prayer  take  no 
more  the  place  of  private  prayer  ;  let  earnest  plead- 
ings with  others  to  become  Christians  now  give 
place,  in  some  measure,  to  earnest  pleadings  with 
their  own  hearts  to  enter  more  fully  into  the  rights, 
privileges,  joys,  hopes,  fellowships,  and  labors  that 
belong  to  the  child  of  God. 


3o8  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

Then  let  the  pastor, — 

2.  Proceed  at  once  to  a  complete  org^nizatioii  of 
the  cJmrch  into  a  zvorking  coi'ps. 

The  Moravians  did  this.  The  Methodists  failed 
just  there.  Had  they  advanced  in  this  line,  their 
body  would,  probably,  to-day,  have  been  manifold 
more  numerous  and  powerful  than  it  is.  The 
Wesleys  did  not  grasp  the  really  democratic  ele- 
ment of  the  gospel.  At  this  day  their  noblest 
leaders  are  urging  the  reluctant  laymen  to  bear 
their  part  in  the  public  affairs  of  the  body. 

But  I  will  cite  you  examples  of  what  I  mean  by 
closing  a  Revival.  The  hearts  of  brethren  are  warm 
with  conscious  love  to  Christ  and  the  human  race. 
They  are  waiting  to  find  some  channel  for  their 
zeal.  This  is  the  propitious  period  for  carrying  for- 
ward that  most  important  revolution  which  is  now 
commenced  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  —  the  practical 
application,  or,  rather,  expansion,  of  the  principle 
of  stewardship. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  Revival  of  benevolence  as 
expressed  in  the  donation  of  property.  But  that 
was  a  partial  development  of  the  Spirit  of  conse- 
cration. Believers  are  coming  now  to  perceive  that 
the  claims  of  our  Lord  extend  to  time,  speech,  and 
personal  influence  in  all  its  forms.  And  may  the 
time  be  hastened  when  a  test  of  Christian  charac- 
ter shall  be  a  conscientious  use  of  time  and  power 
to  reconstruct  human  society  on  the  basis  of  loy- 
alty to  Christ ! 


CLOSING    A    REVIVAL. 


309 


The  pastor,  then,  as  he  perceives  the  time  has 
come  to  give  a  new  direction  to  the  thoughts  and 
labors  of  the  church,  should  aim  to  organize  every 
available  member  into  a  special  society  of  some 
kind. 

The  complaint  about  having  "  too  many  socie- 
ties" does  not  apply  here.  This  is  not  to  form  a 
new  set  of  salaried  officers  to  do  our  work  for  us, 
and  to  make  new  calls  for  money,  but  to  set  every 
one  at  work  personally. 

These  organizations  should  embrace,  at  least, 
three  objects,  —  Christian  fellowship,  mission-work, 
biblical  study.  For  the  cultivation  of  Christian 
fellowship,  let  a  portion  of  the  church,  of  both  sexes 
and  every  age,  adapted  to  the  work,  be  formed  into 
a  committee  to  arrange  the  social  meetings,  sewing- 
circles,  or  any  other  feasible  way  of  bringing  all 
classes  together  in  pleasant  intercourse.  Let 
another  committee  be  formed  to  secure  the  most 
efficient  employment  of  the  church's  power  in  reach- 
ing the  poor  and  unevangelized  ;  setting  every  one, 
so  far  as  possible,  to  work  in  doing  good  to  some- 
body, in  a  mission-school,  or  tract  distribution,  or 
neighborhood  prayer-meetings.  Then  let  the  pastor 
organize  some  system  of  biblical  instruction,  which 
shall  involve  two  courses,  —  the  enlisting  of  every 
one  capable  of  teaching,  in  a  thorough  study  of 
the  Bible ;  and  all  the  others  in  classes  under 
them.  It  was  the  boast  of  our  immediate  prede- 
cessors    that    they  thoroughly   studied    Bellamy, 


3IO  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

Hopkins,  and  Edwards.  Let  it  be  our  nobler 
boast,  that  we  thoroughly  study  Moses,  Isaiah, 
John,  and  Paul.  . 

Several  of  our  churches  are  now  quite  thoroughly 
organized ;  all,  probably,  admitting  of  improve- 
ments. Mr.  Spurgeon  has  secured  several  impor- 
tant points.  But  he  is  a  man  of  such  peculiar 
endowments  as  scarcely  to  be  a  model  to  the  body 
of  pastors. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  MacCoU  of  Glasgow,  from  his  own 
successful  experiment,  thus  describes  the  idea  and 
work  of  a  church  :  — 

*•  The  central  idea  of  this  successful  home-mission  *  in  the 
crowded  depths  of  city  life  is  in  the  Church  as  embodying  theoreti- 
cally the  necessary  gifts  both  of  wisdom  and  work,  and  the 
adequate  power  to  unite,  intensify,  direct,  and  multiply  individual 
effort.  Organized  Christian  fellowship  in  a  church  is  regarded  as 
the  true  association  for  the  propagation  of  the  faith  and  life. 

"The  idea  is  further,  that  of  a  mission-church,  not  only  to  spread 
the  faith  and  life  of  Christ,  but  to  spread  it  immediately  by  those  it 
gathers  in.  The  meal  as  it  is  leavened  is  put  by  handfuls  into 
new  measures.  As  the  church  fills,  another  is  built,  and  the  ori- 
ginal congregation  divided.  Thus  not  only  individuals  are  planted 
out,  but  complete  churches.  Office-bearers  and  members  are 
encouraged  to  take  to  such  forms  of  work  as  they  are  best  fitted 
for  ;  and  the  widest  scope  for  individual  effort  and  enlargement  is 
afforded.  Thus  there  are  gifts  specially  used  in  prayer,  preach- 
ing, teaching,  visiting,  finance,  church-music,  colportage,  nursing 
the  sick,  domestic  training,  and  the  higher  education. 

"The  Church  works  both  within  and  without,  to  enclose  more  of 
the  world,  and  to  cultivate  what  is  enclosed  ;  and,  as  spiritual  life 
is  largely  dependent  on  knowledge  as  well  as  faith,  there  is  room 
and  necessity  for  the  highest  culture.  This  culture  should  keep 
in  view  both  body  and  spirit. 

*  Work  in  the  Wynds. 


CLOSING   A   REVIVAL.  31I 

"  The  Church  strives  to  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
righteousness.  A  church  of  poor,  prayerful  men,  may  be  very 
richly  endowed.  Nothing  is  impossible  to  faith.  The  seed  is 
the  Word.     Apostolic  fruits  can  still  be  grown  from  it. 

*'  The  Church  keeps  a  wide  door  for  those  that  would  enter^  but 
strict  discipline  for  those  that  would  abide. 

"  The  Church  is  bound  not  only  to  teach,  but  train,  not  only  in 
sound  doctrine,  but  in  good  works.  In  addition,  therefore,  to  the 
education  of  the  school  and  the  church,  training  classes  give 
specific  education  for  mission-work  to  men  and  women  who  wish 
to  enter  on  various  spheres  of  Christian  work,  paid  or  unpaid,  at 
home  and  abroad. 

"  A  curriculum  of  three  winter  sessions  is  at  present  laid  out, 
embracing  sanitary  and  mental  science,  English  literature,  mis- 
sion history,  doctrine,  difficulties  of  faith,  phases  of  evangelistic 
work,  and  Bible  resources  applicable  to  these.  One  night  in 
the  week  is  thus  occupied. 

"  A  library  largely  furnished  with  missionary  literature  is  avail- 
able. A  mission-house  is  attached  to  the  school  for  domestic 
training  of  girls.  A  model  home  as  regards  cleanliness,  order, 
economy,  cooking,  and  needlework,  is  here  to  be  seen  at  work 
among  a  dozen  girls,  who  pay  their  lodging  and  board  ;  and  here 
from  one  to  two  hundred  girls  living  elsewhere  get  a  variety  of 
lessons  gratis. 

"  The  Church,  while  thus  seeking  to  organize  work,  and  intro- 
duce to  it,  encourages  individual  effort ;  but  it  seeks  to  maintain 
fellowship  in  all." 

A  third  suggestion  I  would  make,  — 
3.   The  style  of  the  pulpit  and  its  topics  should 
change,  but  not  descend,  nor  go  backward. 

Now,  the  nature  of  union  with  Christ  ;  the  ineffa- 
ble preciousness  of  that  union  ;  the  relations  of 
believers  to  the  Church  catholic  and  to  one 
another ;  the  application  of  the  gospel  to  the  details 
of  life,  of  the  family,  of  business  and  social  inter- 


312  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

course ;  all  the  truths,  in  a  word,  that  the  apostles, 
in  their  most  precious  epistles,  expanded  from  the 
teachings  of  the  Lord,  —  these  are  themes  demand- 
ing, the  most  serious  attention  of  every  one. 

The  preacher  may  find  some  physical  re-action, 
and  a  little  depressing  influence,  in  the  less  ani- 
mated services  of  the  sanctuary;  but  there  is  no 
occasion  for  this.  The  animation  is  of  a  different 
type,  just  as  valuable  in  its  season.  The  themes 
of  the  new  epoch  are  even  more  powerful  in  their 
place  than  those  of  the  Revival  would  be. 

Then  there  arises  a  demand  for,  — 

a.  The  judicious  ti'eatment  of  particular  cases. 
Giving  hope  to  converts,  advising  them  to  make 
full  confession  of  Christ,  and  enter  the  church, 
admitting  them  to  its  fellowship,  are  matters 
requiring,  not  human  rules,  but  special  divine 
direction.  One  other  step  I  regard  as  of  immeasur- 
able importance, — 

b.  The  converts  Bible  class.  The  features  of 
chief  interest  are  these  :  — 

The  very  act  of  organizing  converts  into  a  class 
is  a  suitable  recognition  of  their  professed  regen- 
eration, which  is  due  to  the  holy  Author  of  that 
work.  It  draws  a  line  between  them  and  their  for- 
mer associates.  It  commits  them,  for  the  time, 
almost  as  strongly  as  a  full  profession  of  religion, 
and  yet  has  a  probationary  character. 

To  make  it  more  effective,  and  bring  home  to 
each  convert  the  sense  of  personal  responsibiUty, 


CLOSING    A    REVIVAL.  313 

and  to  show  the  pastor's  interest  in  them  individ- 
ually, I  opened  each  service  by  calling  the  roll. 
Some  features  of  that,  however,  led  me  to  discon- 
tinue it,  and  merely  to  enrol  any  name  by  its 
owner's  request. 

The  topics  I  selected  for  one  class  were.  The 
great  change,  its  Author,  nature,  and  designs ; 
growth  in  grace ;  prayer ;  leaven  (to  present 
growth  in  another  aspect)  ;  faith ;  pleasing  God  ; 
delight  in  God  ;  the  good  Shepherd  ;  the  Bible  and 
its  study ;  count  the  cost ;  worship ;  conipassion 
for  the  impenitent ;  individuality  ;  quietness. 

Had  I  pursued  it,  my  intention  was  to  go  through 
the  various  phases  of  Christian  experience  in  its 
early  stages,  to  check  the  presumptuous,  encourage 
the  timid,  guard  against  their  dangers,  show  the 
sources  of  their  strength  and  the  modes  of  reach- 
ing them. 

It  was  a  blessed  work ;  and  any  pastor  may  well 
covet  the  possession  of  a  converts'  or  catechumens' 
class  in  every  year  of  his  ministry. 

And  another  work  following  a  Revival  is,  — 

c.  Keeping  down  the  banders  between  tJie  pastor 
andpeophy  which  snch  seasons  always,  more  or  less, 
remove. 

Aim  to  keep  in  their  minds  the  sense  of  the 
naturalness  and  propriety  of  free  communication 
between  every  unconverted  person  and  his  pastor 
in  regard  to  his  eternal  welfare. 

Where    Revivals   never   occur,  I  doubt  if   it  is 


314  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

fully  understood  that  it  is  a  proper,  natural,  very 
desirable  thing,  that  every  member  of  the  parish 
should  converse  freely,  and  not  infrequently,  with 
the  pastor  on  this  first  of  all  interests.  A  judicious 
pastor  can  secure  that  understanding  v^^ith  all  his 
hearers  generally,  so  that  he  can  have  the  advantage 
of  observing  the  first  favorable  movements  of  any 
heart  toward  God  and  salvation.  This  is  peculiarly 
true  in  regard  to  children.  They  pass  through 
seasons  of  awakened  religious  sensibility  which  are 
very  important  to  seize  with  a  friendly  hand,  and 
to  hold  their  attention  to  the  claims  and  offers  of 
Christ,  until  the  great  decision  shall  have  been 
made.  In  some  cases  pastors  have  made  the 
inquiry-meeting  a  permanent  institution.  The  de- 
sirableness of  that  depends  upon  the  state  of  the 
people's  mind,  as  well  as  the  mode  of  doing  it.  If 
new  cases  of  inquiry  are  occurring  after  the  subsid- 
ing of  the  general  excitement,  this  should,  by  all 
means,  be  done ;  but  it  may  become  hurtful  to 
continue  it  for  a  long  time  for  chronic  cases  of 
indecision. 

We  are  to  avoid  appointing  such  an  exercise 
when  it  is  manifest  that  no  person  wishes  to  avail 
himself  of  it.  And  yet  I  have  known,  I  may  say, 
many  instances  of  such  an  appointment,  in  a  season 
of  apparent  religious  insensibility,  developing  the 
existence  of  a  deep,  hitherto  hidden,  current  of  feel- 
ing; a  fact  which  shows  that  a  faithful  minister 
cannot  lead  a  routine-life :   he  must  be  in  constant 


CLOSING   A    REVIVAL,  315 

living  sympathy  with  the  invisible  presence  and 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  wind  that  "bloweth 
where  it  listetk" 

Here  we  meet  an  evil  incidental  to  Revivals,  — 
that  of  undervaluing  religious  services  of  a  less 
exciting  and  demonstrative  character ;  that  of  dis- 
couragement from  confounding  the  physical  and 
mental  re-action  with  the  withdrawal  of  the  Para- 
clete from  our  hearts  ;  that  of  despising  "  the  day 
of  small  things,"  and,  consequently,  neglecting 
those  less  exciting,  more  difficult,  less  encouraging 
details  of  work,  which  have  now  become  the  duty 
of  the  hour. 

The  analogy  of  farming  is  very  instructive  at 
this,  as  at  so  many  other  stages  of  Christian  life 
and  work ;  the  harvest  is  a  season  of  extraor- 
dinary excitement,  labor,  social  gatherings,  hilarity, 
and  mutual  help ;  but  it  comes  to  a  close  at 
length.  Then  work  becomes  more  solitary,  less 
gladdening  to  the  eyes,  but  full  of  promise  for  the 
future,  a  constant  quickener  of  hope. 

The  hour  has  come  for  a  change.  Meet  it  man- 
fully. The  ploughs  are  now  to  be  critically 
inspected,  fences  examined,  a  thousand  details  to 
receive  attention.     That  constitutes  good  farming. 

In  a  word,  then,  seek  to  meet  the  providence  of 
God  and  his  Spirit  in  every  manifestation  of  the 
divine  purposes,  suiting  your  labors  to  your  cir- 
cumstances, always  vigilant,  always  faithful. 

I  must  now  point  out  to  you,  — 


3l6  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

4.  TJie  vital  elements  of  power  in  otir pi'ofession. 
A  heathen  could  see  that  what  he  called  virtue 
was  the  vital  element  of  true  eloquence.  But  we 
have  instructions  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  can  go 
far  deeper  and  higher  than  Cicero. 

Your  power  as  preachers  of  Christ's  gospel  lies 
in  your  character,  your  moral  self,  not  what  you 
have  learned,  or  know,  or  think,  but  what  you 
are.  And  it  may  be  expressed  in  two  words, — 
enthusiasm,  dependence.  By  enthusiasm  I  mean 
two  things,  —  a  high,  fixed  purpose ;  a  profound, 
quick,  acute  sensibility.  The  purpose  to  which  I 
allude  is  this :  to  save  from  eternal  ruin  as  many 
immortal  spirits  as  possible,  to  defeat  Satan's 
schemes  as  far  as  possible,  to  put  as  much  honor 
upon  our  adorable  Redeemer  as  possible.  The 
sensibility  of  which  I  speak  is  the  emotional 
nature  fully  impressible  and  impressed  by  two 
facts  of  supreme  moment,  —  sin,  redeeming  love. 
There,  dear  brethren,  is  the  real  weakness  of  the 
ministry.  Our  young  men  delude  themselves  with 
a  show  of  learning  and  mental  acuteness,  which 
indeed  have  their  place,  but  which,  without  charity, 
are  but  sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbals. 
Lord  Buchan  has  well  said,  "  Exquisite  power  has 
its  root  in  exquisite  sensibility."  An  educated 
clergy,  in  shrinking  from  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
Ranters,  has  virtually  surrendered  the  whole  field 
to  the  Ranters,  so  far  as  the  li  nokloi  are  concerned  ; 
for  they  demand,  first  of  all,  heart. 


THE   preacher's    POWER.  317 

This,  then,  I  consider  the  first  root-element  o£ 
sacred  oratory,  —  enthusiasm,  a  fiery,  tender  heart, 
moved  to  its  depths  in  view  of  man's  sin  and 
Christ's  love,  an  intense  will  or  purpose  to  bring 
every  sinner  to  trust  the  loving  Saviour.  The  sec- 
ond element  is,  — 

The  spirit  of  dependence,  arising  from  a  full 
perception  of  personal  unworthiness  of  the  posi- 
tion occupied,  and  of  insufficiency  to  secure  the 
ends  sought.  This  tempers  the  solemnity,  stern- 
ness, energy,  boldness,  impetuosity,  of  the  sacred 
orator.  This  keeps  him  in  living  sympathy  with  his 
humblest  hearer.  This  makes  him  a  man  of  prayer, 
and  gives  the  glory  to  Him  to  whom  it  belongs. 
This  holds  logic  and  learning  in  their  proper 
place,  not  as  forces,  but  as  instruments  of  real 
force,  the  power  of  the  heart. 

And  both  these,  enthusiasm  and  dependence,  are 
really  summed  up  in  faith  ;  for  faith  includes  both 
the  vision  of  those  spiritual  realities  which  so  pro- 
foundly move  the  sensibilities,  and  also  the  depend- 
ence of  man  on  God,  as  of  the  branch  on  the  vine. 
All,  then,  that  Cicero  demands  in  the  orator  faith 
produces,  and  on  a  higher  plane  than  he  ever 
dreamed  of.  P'aith  can  produce  the  vividus  vtiltus, 
vividi  Gculi,  vivida  maniLS,  denique,  omnia  vivida. 

This  was  the    secret   of   Whitefield's   oratorical 

power.     That  very  voice,  of  which  so  much  is  said, 

was   formed,  in   its   most    exquisite   and    effective 

tones,  by  no  other  master  of  elocution  than  the 

27* 


3l8  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

heart.  "  The  North  American  Review  "  speaks  of 
his  intense  desire  to  see  a  changed  face  put  upon 
the  rehgious  world,  his  prodigal  benevolence,  his 
recklessness  of  all  temporal  consequences  to  him- 
self, his  absorption  in  the  saving  of  souls,  his  con- 
suming desire  that  others  might  enter  his  rapture 
and  peace  ;  and,  almost  above  all  these,  a  childlike 
simplicity,  a  humble  sense  of  self,  gave  him  a 
higher  distinction  than  mere  oratory  could  obtain. 
Let  me  now  speak  of,  — 

5.    Your  expectations. 

I  have  spoken  of  your  aims.  Now  make  this 
discrimination :  when  you  seriously  take  up  the 
subject  in  that  light,  conscience  will  be  in  the  fore- 
ground, and  you  will  have  very  lofty  and  pious 
views.  But,  that  service  performed  in  a  less 
serious  mood,  you  will  find  the  heart  at  work  in  a 
somewhat  different  line  of  action.  It  may  talk  on 
this  fashion:  "  I  hope  to  be  a  very  faithful  and  suc- 
cessful pastor,  very  godly,  very  useful,  and  to  have 
Revivals,  and  in  heaven  shine  as  the  stars  in  the 
firmament,  having  turned  many  to  righteousness. 
Yes,  that  is  all  settled.  But  I  hope  my  work  will 
be  assigned  me  in  a  pleasant  town,  among  culti- 
vated people,  and  that  I  shall  be  somewhat  distin- 
guished as  a  preacher,  and  that  no  one  will  oppose 
me  or  perplex  me,  and  that  I  shall  make  the  par- 
sonage a  little  paradise.  The  pinchings  of  pov- 
erty, the  arrows  of  slander,  the  annoyance  of  offi- 
cious people,  the  toil   of  making  sermons  with  a 


THE    PREACHERS    EXPECTATIONS.  319 

headache,  the  mortification  of  having  my  best 
efforts  unappreciated,  —  all  that  I  expect  to  be 
spared." 

Brother,  when  your  heart  thus  speaks,  meet  it 
with  something  like  these  three  regiments  of  the 
king's  troops,  to  conquer  it  so  effectually  that  it  may 
never  peep  nor  mutter  again.  The  first  is  the 
example  of  your  Saviour.  He  was  rich,  but  made 
himself  poor  in  order  to  enrich  us.  He  had  the 
Father's  glory,  but  divested  himself  of  it,  that  he 
might  make  our  eternity  glorious.  He  came  not 
to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister  to  us,  and 
give  his  life  a  ransom  for  us.  He  consented  to  be 
despised  and  rejected,  a  man  of  sorrows,  to  be  mis- 
understood, misrepresented,  his  love  requited  with 
hatred,  his  professed  help  with  contempt,  his  tears 
with  scoffs,  to  be  here  without  a  home,  a  large 
church  around  him,  a  splendid  place  of  worship. 

We  are  not  to  imitate  and  repeat  his  outward 
life,  but  fully  to  share  his  spirit. 

Bring  against  your  pride  and  selfish  aspirations 
the  experience  of    Paul  as  recorded  in  2  Cor.  xi. 

23-33- 

The  third  battalion  is  the  example  of  our  best 
soldiers.  They  enlisted  with  one  definite  object  at 
heart,  —  to  suppress  the  Rebellion,  and  save  the 
institutions  of  the  country.  They  knew  they  "were 
not  competent  to  make  the  plans  of  the  campaigns, 
or  to  station  themselves  to  the  greatest  advantage, 
but,  committing  themselves  to  the  leaders  in  whom 


320  LECTURES   ON   REVIVALS. 

they  confided,  went  into  the  ranks,  unquestioning, 
uncompromising,  determined  on  one  thing,  —  to 
conquer  the  rebels  if  possible. 

So  much  for  your  expectations  concerning  your 
comfort  and  respectability.  Then  in  regard  to 
your  success.  Beware  of  shaping  too  definitely  the 
form  of  that  success.  You  see,  from  our  brief 
review,  that  much  of  the  past  has  been  seed- 
sowing  ;  that  there  were  many  Revivalists  without 
Revivals.  While  I  doubt  if  there  will  ever  be 
many  more  such,  especially  in  this  country,  yet 
your  work  may  be  largely  a  sower's  work,  for 
others  to  reap,  that  reaper  and  sower  may  rejoice 
together. 

I.et,  then,  your  expectation  take  but  these  definite 
forms,  —  "  I  expect  to  be  faithful  to  Christ,  ready  for 
the  coming  of  the  Spirit  in  any  form  he  may  adopt. 
I  expect  to  find  my  blessed  Lord  with  me  in  my 
closet,  in  every  visit,  every  prayer-meeting,  every 
sermon,  every  part  and  branch  of  my  work.  I 
expect  that  my  faith  will  be  tried,  sometimes  as  by 
fire.  I  expect  to  be  a  man  of  prayer,  labor,  and 
self-denial  I  expect  to  be  cheerful  amid  hardships 
and  trials.  I  expect  to  be  a  great  blessing  to  my 
fellowmen,  but  in  what  way  I  need  not  anticipate. 
I  expect  to  be  an  instrument  of  converting  men, 
comforting  and  edifying  believers,  leading  children 
to  Jesus.  I  expect  my  influence  will  all  be  on  the 
side  of  a  humble,  earnest,  aggressive  piet}^  in  the 
same  channel  with  every  good  institution  and  good 
man  in  the  world. 


THE    PREACHERS    EXPECTATIONS.  32 1 

"  I  hope  for  great  Revivals  under  my  labors. 
These,  however,  may  never  occur ;  but  I  intend 
that  their  non-occurrence  shall  not  be  because  I 
was  indifferent  to  them,  or  self-sparing.  And 
I  finally  expect  to  finish  my  course  with  joy,  and  to 
say,  by  the  grace  of  God,  '  I  have  kept  the  faith, 
I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my 
course :  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown 
x>i  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous 
Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day.' 

"  I  expect  to  review  my  course  from  heaven,  and 
see,  that,  with  many  mistakes  and  many  defects, 
there  ran  through  the  whole  of  my  ministry  one 
sincere,  supreme  purpose  of  doing  the  greatest  pos- 
sible good,  one  simple  exercise  of  reliance  upon 
my  Saviour  and  his  Holy  Spirit. 

"  On  my  way  to  heaven,  I  hope  that  I  shall  be  the 
means  of  causing  frequent  joy  in  the  presence  of 
the  angels  of  God,  by  turningjthe  feet  of  wandering 
children  back  toward  their  Father's  house." 

Carry  this  one  word  of  the  Lord  with  you  into 
your  work :  "  Likewise,  I  say  unto  you,  There  is 
joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God  over  one 
sinner  that  repenteth."  * 

Did  the  Lord  say  this  joy  would  be  occasioned 
by  your  getting  a  splendid  call  and  the  offer  of  a 
large  salary,  by  that  eloquent  sermon  you  preached, 
by  that  distinguished  man  taking  a  seat  in  your 
sanctuary  ?     Nothing  of  all  this,  but  by  the  tear  of 

*  Luke  XV.  10. 


322  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

penitence  falling  from  the  eye  of  a  child,  a  beggar, 
or  a  prince. 

Mark  the  Saviour's  motive  in  uttering  this  decla- 
ration. It  uras,  first  of  all,  to  rebuke  the  proud, 
selfish,  earthly  spirit  of  Pharisaism,  so  rife  in  his 
day  and  in  our  day,  which  says  there  is  too  much 
ado  about  a  change  of  heart.  No,  replies  the  Lord 
of  glory :  it  causes  more  joy  in  heaven  than  any 
thing  you  Pharisees  ever  do,  or  cause  to  be  done^ 
"  There  is  no  reality  in  the  change."  Yes,  there 
is  :  Heaven  does  not  rejoice  over  pretensions  and 
illusions.  "  I  doubt  if  the  change  will  be  perma- 
nent." Heaven  has  more  faith  than  you.  "  It  does 
not  concern  me."  No  ;  but  it  concerns  the  whole 
hierarchy  of  heaven. 

The  Saviour  uttered  these  words  to  encourage 
sinners  to  repent,  to  assure  them  of  Heaven's  sym- 
pathy with  their  feelings,  their  yearnings,  their 
grief,  and  their  joy. 

He  uttered  these  words  to  stimulate  believers  ; 
showing  them  how  they  could  add  to  the  happiness 
of  Heaven  ;  that  all  the  heavenly  host,  with  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  are  with  them  in  full 
sympathy  in  this  blessed  word. 

He  uttered  these  words,  dear  young  brethren,  to 
animate  you  in  your  sacred  vocation.  Go  forth 
to  persuade  men  to  repent  toward  God,  swelling 
thus  the  tide  of  joy  now  rolling  through  heaven,  to 
roll  forever  through  your  own  hearts  there. 


ADDRESS. 

Now,  dear  brethren,  we  have  reached  the  close 
of  a  series  of  interviews,  which  I  regard  with  a 
deep  sense  of  gratitude  to  Him  who  has  granted 
me  the  privilege  of  aiding,  in  the  smallest  degree, 
those  who  are  laboring  to  prepare  you  for  sublime 
work  and  its  eternal  rewards. 

I  welcome  every  return  of  affection  from  you ; 
for  brotherly  love  is  the  atmosphere  of  heaven. 

We  part  on  earth  to  meet  at  the  judgment,  or, 
rather,  in  our  Father's  house  of  many  mansions. 
From  this  point  suffer  me  to  look  with  you  upon 
the  several  paths  leading  from  this  school  of  the 
prophets  to  the  door  of  that  house. 

God  may  change  the  form  of  development  for 
his  kingdom ;  but  the  spirit  of  that  kingdom  can 
never  change.  I  would,  then,  aim  to  bind  you  to  no 
parties,  no  formula,  no  master,  no  routine.  My 
aim  has  been  to  give  you  the  facts  of  the  past 
connected  with  our  subject,  to  help  you  discover 
the  eternal  principles  they  involve,  and  to  cherish 
in  you  the  spirit  that  will  fit  you  for  the  highest 
degree  of  usefulness,  whatever  your  external  course 
may  be. 

323 


324  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

I  would  speak  first  of,  — 

I.  Your  aims.  Settle  it  now  and  forever  ;  plant 
your  foot  upon  a  rock  ;  have  your  vision  clear  as 
the  eagle's,  gazing  on  the  meridian  sun,  in  refer- 
ence to  this  question,  For  what  end  do  I  enter 
the  ministry  ?  Is  it  self,  or  God,  I  intend  to 
please?  Am  I  to  seek  my  own  earthly  good,  or 
the  eternal  blessedness  of  my  fellow-men  ?  Posi- 
tion, power,  ease,  fame,  pelf,  all  will  make  thorough 
proof  of  you.  And  how  will  you  pass'  the  ordeal  ? 
What  will  you  say  to  each  of  them  ?  On  your 
response  to  their  appeals  hang  immortal  destinies. 
Leave  not  these  consecrated  halls  until  you  can 
say,  gazing  humbly  on  your  Saviour's  countenance, 
"  For  me  to  live,  is  Christ !  "  To  win  men's  love  to 
him  ;  to  strengthen  their  faith  in  his  promises  ;  to 
win  them  from  every  form  and  degree  of  selfish- 
ness ;  to  work  for  their  transformation  into  his 
likeness ;  let  that  be  your  purpose,  fixed  at  the 
foot  of  his  cross,  written  on  the  tablets  of  your 
heart,  in  the  book  of  his  covenant ;  to  be  met  again, 
when  you  meet  him,  in  its  light,  to  review  your  life. 

Aim  to  have  Revivals,  Christian  quickening, 
soul-converting  Revivals.  If  they  come  not  to 
crown  your  ministry,  let  it  not  be  because  you  were 
averse,  or  even  indifferent,  to  them. 

Aim  to  secure  men's  admiration,  not  of  you,  but 
of  Christ.  Let  us  take  two  cases.  A  minister 
ascends  the  pulpit,  and  spends  an  hour  in  convin- 
cing his  hearers  of  this  fact,  real  or  imaginary,  that 


ADDRESS.  325 

he  is  a  man  of  extraordinary  talent,  of  wonderful 
acquirements,  —  an  orator.  He  brings  resistless 
proof  to  their  eyes  and  ears.  He  illustrates  it. 
He  presses  the  evidence  with  intense  zeal  and 
complete  success.  The  result  is,  that  one  thousand 
persons  leave  the  house  of  God  on  his  day,  having 
made  this  vast  addition  to  their  stock  of  knowl- 
edge :  they  have  discovered  that  Mr.  A.  B.  is  an 
extraordinary  man. 

What  think  you  of  the  thing,  brethren  ?  Is  it 
wise,  is  it  kind,  is  it  honorable,  is  it  fair  to  God  or 
man,  is  it  the  right  use  to  make  of  the  pulpit,  of 
the  Sabbath,  the  sanctuary,  or  the  word  of  God.^ 
Was  it  for  this  Jesus  died  ?  for  this  he  called  that 
man  to  the  ministry  ?  Who  will  be  the  better  for 
it  a  century  hence  ? 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  was  a  man 
whose  hearers  retired  from  the  sanctuary,  saying, 
"  How  poor  and  sinful  we  are  !  How  glorious  Jesus 
is  !  How  can  we  love  him  more,  and  serve  him  bet- 
ter .?  " 

Brother,  which  of  them  is  yourself  ? 

I  speak  next  of,  — 

2.  Your  earnestness  in  your  work.  There  is  a 
sense  in  which  you  are  nothing :  at  best,  a  harp 
that  can  make  no  music  of  itself,  but  awaits  the 
soul  and  touch  of  the  Master.  The  power  that 
saves  is  not  in  you  ;  and  yet  there  is  a  sense  in 
which  the  destinies  of  certain  souls  are  suspended 
on  your  action.  If  you  pursue  one  course,  they 
28 


326  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

will  perish  eternally ;  another,  they  will  shine  and 
sing  forever  in  heaven.  This  was  the  Lord's  mean- 
ing, when  he  said  to  Ezekiel  that  the  blood  of  the 
soul  he  should  neglect  to  warn  would  be  required 
at  his  hands.  It  is  to  this  Paul  alludes  when  he 
says,  "  I  am  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men." 

What  an  appeal  to  your  hearts,  to  your  con- 
sciences !  Shall  any  one  go  down  to  the  second 
death  because  you  are  ambitious,  covetous,  indolent, 
proud,  frivolous,  prayerless  ?  Imagine  a  hundred 
persons  pointed  out  to  you  by  the  finger  of  the 
Omniscient.  As  you  look  at  them,  he  says,  "  If  you 
pursue  one  course,  not  one  of  these  persons  will 
ever  repent  and  prepare  for  heaven  ;  another  course 
will  result  in  the  salvation  of  ten  of  them ;  another 
still,  of  twenty  ;  another,  of  fifty.  But  if  you  will 
commence  your  ministry  with  a  thorough  crucifixion 
of  ambition,  leaving  your  reputation  for  talent, 
scholarship,  and  eloquence,  totally  in  my  hands ;  if 
you  will  give  the  wealth  of  your  affections,  and  the 
energy  of  your  being,  to  the  single  work  of  saving 
men  from  eternal  death,  being  an  earnest,  laborious, 
self-denying  minister  of  the  gospel,  —  every  one  of 
these  immortal  beings  will  turn  to  the  Lord,  and 
dwell  eternally  in  his  love  and  his  blissful  pres- 
ence." What,  my  dear  young  brother,  will  be  your 
decision  ? 

But  this  is  precisely  what  I  understand  by  the 
responsibility  of  our  office.  What  say  you,  then  ? 
Will  you  save  none,  or  ten,  or  fifty,  or  all  ?     If  the 


ADDRESS.  327 

latter,  then  you  must  consent  and  determine  to  be 
a  whole-souled,  single-eyed,  earnest  laborer. 

I  urge  you,  also,  fully  to  realize,  — 

3.  Your  dependence.  Do  you  know  that  our  proud 
hearts  can  go  even  so  far  as  to  begrudge  our  Saviour 
the  whole  glory  of  every  good  thing  we  have  or  do  t 
Paul's  attainment  was  quite  uncommon,  which  he 
thus  described  :  "  We  are  not  sufficient  of  ourselves 
to  think  any  thing  as  of  ourselves."  "  I  glory  in  my 
infirmities,  that  the  power  of  Christ  may  rest  upon 
me." 

Hig  pride  was  effectually  exterminated.  Abso- 
lute, universal,  incessant  dependence  on  such  a 
being  as  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  to  him  a  source 
of  repose,  joy,  confidence,  boldness,  earnestness, 
and  love,  which  he  would  not  have  exchanged  for 
any  gratification  he  might  have  derived  from  the 
consciousness  of  independence,  or  the  glory  of 
being  considered  sufficient  to  himself. 

The  more  thoroughly  you  habituate  yourselves 
to  regard  the  figure  of  the  branches  and  vine  as 
describing  your  personal  relations  to  the  Lord,  the 
more  thoroughly  Christian  will  you  and  your  minis- 
try be.  It  will  make  you  bold  as  lions,  without 
ostentation,  obtrusiveness,  or  impertinence.  It  will 
preserve  you  calm  and  self-possessed  in  the  most 
trying  positions  ;  for  it  will  keep  you  consciously  in 
the  Saviour's  pgresence,  filled  with  the  power  of  his 
Spirit.  It  will  shield  you  from  the  perils  of  suc- 
cess, the  poison  of  flattery,  the  discouragement  of 
28 


328  LECTURES   ON    REVIVALS. 

failure,  the  corrodings  of  envy  of  others*  reputation, 
and  jealousy  for  your  own. 

Engrave  on  your  hearts  these  words  of  the  no- 
blest, most  useful  man  that  ever  lived  :  "  Not  I,  but 
the  grace  of  God  that  is  in  me."  It  will  cause 
some  of  you  a  struggle,  —  yes,  many  a  tearful  hour 
perhaps,  many  an  agonizing  prayer,  many  a  visit  to 
Gethsemane,  to  reach  that  point,  —  to  count  all 
your  talents  and  attainments  as  sounding  brass  and 
a.  tinkling  cymbal  unless  the  Master  plays  on  them. 
To  make  the  love  of  approbation  and  admiration 
hold  a  place  totally  inferior  to  the  desire  that  men 
should  glorify  Christ,  and  not  you ;  this,  dear 
brethren,  is  a  costly  attainment,  a  pearl  of  great 
price,  but  worth  more  than  it  will  ever  cost  you. 

Here  I  will  give  you  a  modern  specimen  of  hu- 
mility. It  is  contained  in  a  letter  addressed  by 
M.  Rochat,  a  Swiss  pastor  recently  transferred  to 
the  better  world,  to  M.  Bonnet  of  Frankfort.  It 
seems  the  latter  had  published  a  translation  of 
Leighton's  works  by  Rochat,  and,  in  his  introduc- 
tion, had  called  him  "  one  of  the  most  advanced 
Christians,  an  eminent  servant  of  God."  M.  Bon- 
net says,  **  In  this  I  spoke  not  beyond  my  convic- 
tions, but  short  of  them  ;  and  therefore  I  took  it 
for  granted  that  I  was  not  wounding  even  the  most 
delicate  conscience.  But  in  this  I  was  mistaken. 
M.  Rochat,  much  farther  advanced  than  I  thought 
he  had  been  in  the  Christian  life,  had,  as  I  now 
find,   long    since   abjured    the    principle    and    the 


ADDRESS.  329 

practice  of  giving  and  receiving  praise."  For, 
soon  after  the  book  had  been  published,  M.  Bon- 
net received  the  following  letter  :  — 

"Dear  Brother  in  the  Lord,  —  I  rejoiced  in  seeing  the 
translation  of  Leighton ;  but  (must  I  say  it  ?)  this  pleasure  has 
been  diminished  by  seeing  the  encomiums  on  my  piety  in  your 
preface.  My  dear  brother,  bear  with  me  while  I  give  you  the 
results  of  a  long  experience.  Pride  is  the  chief  of  our  sins,  the 
most  difficult  to  overcome.  God  hates  it  chiefly  because  it,  more 
than  any  other,  disputes  his  place  and  prerogatives.  It  breaks  off 
all  communion  with  him,  and  brings  down  his  judgments  ;  for  '  God 
resisteth  the  proud  ;  and  every  one  who  is  proud  in  heart  is  an 
abomination  to  the  Lord.  He  will  destroy  the  house  of  the 
proud.' 

"  This  being  the  case,  you  perceive,  dear  brother,  that  you  can 
do  no  one  a  gi-eater  injury  than  to  nourish  his  pride.  *  He  that 
flattereth  his  neighbor  spreadeth  a  snare  before  his  feet :  a  flatter- 
ing mouth  worketh  ruin.'  Moreover,  dear  brother,  believe  me,  we 
are  too  ignorant  to  form  a  very  just  estimate  of  each  other's  piety. 
To  weigh  a  man's  piety,  you  need  the  balances  of  the  sanctuary, 
which  we  have  not,  but  which  are  in  the  hands  of  Him  who  alone 
'weigheth  the  spirits.'  Let  us  judge  nothing  before  the  time  until 
the  Lord  comes,  who  will  make  manifest  the  intentions  of  the 
heart,  and  will  render  praise  wherever  it  is  due.  In  the  mean 
time,  let  us  judge  our  brethren  with  much  reserve,  favorably  or 
unfavorably,  remembering  that  that  is  always  the  best  judgment 
which  leads  us  to  esteem  others  better  than  ourselves.  If  I  should 
ask  you,  dear  brother,  how  you  ascertained  that  I  am  one  of  the 
most  advanced  Christians,  an  eminent  Christian,  you  would  be 
embarrassed  to  give  your  proof.  Would  you  refer  to  my  writings  .'' 
But  do  not  you,  dear  brother,  who  have  had  such  experience  jn 
making  excellent  sermons,  know  that  the  eyes  see  farther  than  the 
feet  go,  and  that  we  are  not  always  as  good  as  our  sermons  ?  We 
have  this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels,  that  the  excellence  and  glory 
of  its  power  may  be  ascribed  to  God,  and  not  to  us. 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  tell  you  what  I  think  of  myself.  I  should 
probably  scrutinize  myself,  and  perhaps,  in  the  process,  appear  to 


330  LECTURES    ON    REVIVALS. 

be  humble,  when  I  am  not.  I  would  rather  tell  you  what  the  Lord 
thinks  of  me.  The  glorious  Master,  who  searcheth  the  heart,  who 
speaks  truly,  who  is  the  amen,  the  faithful  and  true  witness,  has 
often  —  thanks  be  to  his  name  for  it ! — spoken  to  me  in  the  depths 
of  my  soul.  But  I  must  declare  to  you  he  never  told  me  I  was  an 
eminent  Christian,  advanced  in  the  ways  of  righteousness.  On 
the  contrary,  he  has  told  me  most  distinctly,  that,  if  I  knew  my- 
self, I  would  put  myself  in  the  rank  of  the  chief  of  sinners,  and 
least  of  saints. 

"  Permit  me  then,  dear  brother,  to  appeal  from  your  judgment 
to  that  of  the  Master.  I  may  say,  that,  when  I  am  praised,  I  ex- 
perience two  effects  :  my  pride  seeks  its  nourishment  in  it ;  and  at 
the  same  time  my  conscience,  nay,  something  more  I  hope,  which 
is  the  beginning  of  the  new  man  in  my  heart,  is  offended  by  these 
commendations,  is  ashamed  of  them,  even  feels  it  to  be  a  kind  of 
reproach  for  appearing  better  than  I  really  am. 

"The  most  eminent  Christian  is  perhaps,  nay,  probably,  one 
about  whom  no  one  makes  any  such  remarks,  —  a  poor  laborer, 
who  has  no  treasures,  nor  gloiy,  nor  enjoyment,  nor  boasting,  but 
Jesus.  'The  first  shall  be  last.'  Believe  me,  dear  brother,  we 
should  praise  the  Lord.  He  alone  is  worthy  of  being  praised, 
revered,  and  adored.  Never  has  ^  his  goodness  been  sufficiently 
praised.  In  that  direction,  we  are  in  no  danger  of  mistake  or 
excess.  The  song  of  the  redeemed  in  the  Revelation  praises  only 
Him  who  has  purchased  them  with  his  blood.  It  contains  not  one 
word  of  eulogy  for  any  one  of  the  singers,  not  a  word  that  ranks 
them  as  eminent  or  not  eminent.  All  accept  one  common  title, 
*  Redeemed,'  which  is  their  glory  and  their  blessedness.  Let  us 
labor  to  bring  our  hearts  into  harmony  with  this  song,  in  which 
we  hope,  one  day,  to  unite  our  feeble  voices.  From  henceforth 
let  us  resemble  the  seraphim,  who  cover  their  faces  with  two  of 
their  wings  as  expressing  their  confusion  ;  with  two  others,  their 
feet,  as  concealing  their  obedient  steps  from  every  creature-eye  but 
their  own  ;  and,  with  the  remaining  two,  flying  to  execute  the  will 
of  God,  while  they  cry,  one  to  the  other,  '  Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the 
Lord  of  hosts  :  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory.' 

"Excuse,  dear  brother,  this  exhortation.  And  in  your  next 
edition  do  me  the  favor  to  erase  these  two  phrases,  and  designate 


ADDRESS.  331 

me  simply  as  a  brother,  a  minister  of  the  Lord.     These  titles  are 
good  enough,  without  adding  any  thing  to  them. 

"  Yours,  &c., 

*'A.    ROCHAT." 

And  now  I  beg  any  of  you  who  may  have 
thought  this  letter  too  long  for  this  place  to  excuse 
me.  I  have  read  it,  because  I  believe  that  pride 
does  more  to  make  us  rank  low  in  God's  sight,  to 
cut  us  off  from  the  channels  by  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  enters  the  heart,  than  any  other  sin.  Our 
conversion  was  an  elevation.  Our  choice  of  the 
sacred  office  raised  us  still  higher  socially.  Our 
cultivation  here  still  raises  us.  Our  success,  our 
position  as  pastors,  places  us,  at  length,  at  the 
summit  of  society. 

Can  you,  dear  brethren,  go  so  high  without 
becoming  dizzy .''  Are  you  where  Rochat  was 
when  he  wrote  that  letter  .'*  Do  you  understand 
your  own  hearts  ?  Are  you  awake  to  the  perils 
and  sinfulness  of  pride,  and  its  subtle  workings  ? 
I  believe,  that,  if  you  take  the  right  direction  in  this 
respect,  your  success  in  this  life,  and  untarnished 
glory  in  the  next,  is  made  sure. 


INDEX. 


Address,  closing,  323-331. 
Agency  of  man  in  Revivals,  102. 
Agency  of  Providence  in  Revivals,  92. 
Agency  of  the  gospel  in  Revivals,  105. 
Aims  of  Revival-preaching,  259-262. 
Aims  of  the  Revivalist,  259  ;  of  the  true 

preacher,  324. 
Amherst  College,  influence  of  Revivals 

in,  14S. 
Amount   given,   through    benevolence, 

•the  present  century,  121. 
Ante-Mosaic  Revivals,  108. 
Antislavery  conflict,   revival    of  moral 

principle,  9. 
"Anxious-seat,"     295;     advantages   of, 

296  ;  evils  of,  297. 
Apostolical  Revivals,  115. 
Are  Revivals  degenerating?  217-223. 

Benedict,  forming  epoch  in  history,  9. 
Benedictine  order,  at  last  an  enemy  to 

religion,  25. 
Benevolence,    Revival    of,    13 ;    vmder 

post-apostolical  Revivals,  118. 
Bernard,  forming  epoch  in  history,  9. 
Beyschlag,   Prof.,   upon  folly  of  many 

scientists,  73. 
"  Bodily  exercises,"  47. 
Books  for  advancement  of  piety,  157. 
Brainerd,  David,  intense  desires  of,  232. 
"  Brethren  of  the  Life  in   Common," 

27. 
Bushnell,  Horace,  upon  "idolizing  Re- 
vivals," 47 ;    objections    to    Revivals 

examined,  59,  60. 
Bucheim,  Hans,  and  "  Peasants'  War," 

24. 

Calvinistic  and  Arminian  types  of  Re- 
vivals compared,  228. 

Censoriousness,  53. 

Characteristics  of  Revival-preaching :  — 
thought-quickening,  272 ;  enlighten- 
ing>  273  ;  heart-searching,  275  ;  heart- 


quickening,  276 ;  conscience-quicken- 
ing, 277  ;  conscience-guiding,  278, 

Christ,  agency  of,  in  Revivals,  92. 

Christian  Commission,  labors  of,  in  Re- 
vivals, 248. 

Christian  economy,  ushering  in  of,  99. 

Christian  fathers.  Revivalists  without 
Revivals,  155. 

"  Christological  Revivals"  of  the  pres- 
ent day,  149;  Prof.  H.  B.  Smith 
upon,  150. 

CiviUiberty  and  the  Reformation,  125. 

Civilization,  Judaico-Christian,  alone 
permanent,  89. 

"  Claphan  sect,"  128. 

Class  meetings,  292. 

Classification  of  inquirers,  301. 

Closing  a  Revival,  306  ;  guard  against 
declension  of  piety,  307  ;  organization 
of  the  church,  308  ;  change  of  pulpit 
themes,  311;  converts'  Bible  class,  312. 

Closing  address,  323  ;  aims  of  the 
preacher,  324  ;  earnestness,  325;  de- 
pendence, 327. 

Coldness  and  formality  of  the  church 
contrasted  with  the  Revival-state, 
16-19. 

Colleges,  tabular  statement  of  Revivals 
in,  148. 

Concentration  of  thought  demanded, 
42,  43- 

Confession,  mutual,  244. 

Confucius,  intense  zeal  of,  io_5j. 

Conscience-guiding  characteristic  of  true 
preaching,  278. 

Conscience-quickening  characteristic  of 
true  preaching,  277. 

Consecrated  pastors  the  world's  great 
want,  242. 

Consecration  of  pastor  and  people  be- 
fore a  Revival,  241. 

Conservatism,  its  use,  34. 

Constant  growth  of  the  church  not  a 
Revival,  19. 

333 


334 


INDEX. 


Convention  of  1857,  upon  Revivals,  at 

Pittsburg,  143. 
Converts'  Bible  class,  312. 
Conversion,  tests  of.  305. 
Conviction  of  sin.   Calvary  and   Sinai, 

219. 
Corinthian  Church,  low  state  of,  13. 
Councils,   severe   struggles  of,    10 ;    of 

Nicea,  10. 
Covenant  of  1670,  242,  243. 
Covenanters  of  Scotland,  132. 
Crusades,  24. 

Daily  meetings,  scriptural  customs, 
251  ;  testimonies  of  Clirysostom,  Dr. 
Lardner,  President  Edwards,  in  favor 
of,  251  ;  principles  underlying  the  sub- 
ject, 253. 

Daniel,  Book  of,  its  wonderful  history, 
90. 

Davenport,  Rev.  James,  46. 

Declension  of  Revivals  no  objection  to 
them_,  58. 

Defensive  view  of  Revivals,  32. 

Dependence  upon  the  Holy  Spirit,  327. 

Description  of  a  Revival,  1-3 ._ 

Direct  Revivals,  11  ;  quickening  of  per- 
sonal piety,  12  ;  quickening  of  a  com- 
munity of  believers,  12  ;  results  of, — 
benevolence,  13  ;  conversions,  14 ; 
under  post-apostolical,  118. 

Direct  tendency  of  Revivals,  4. 

Discriminative  examination  of  Reviv- 
als, 16. 

Disturbing  element  in  religion,  39,  40. 

Doctrinal  and  biblical  preaching,  219- 
222. 

Doctrinal  Revivals,  1 1  ;  beginning  of  in 
first  century,  117. 

Dwight,  President,  and  Yale  College, 
139- 

Earnestness  of  the  preacher  in  his 
work,  325. 

Edwards,  President  Jonathan,  personal 
experience,  38 ;  his  thoughts,  45  ; 
Revival  of  1740,  196  ;  his  birth  and 
education,  196 ;  his  mother,  197 ; 
colleague  over  church  at  Northamp- 
ton, 197;  vindication  of  Revivals, 
199;  the  Revival  of  1735,  200;  the 
great  awakening,  201 ;  his  eminent 
holiness,  201  ;  intellectual  strength, 
io3  ;  testimony  as  to  lay-efforts,  247  ; 
remarks  ujion  zeal  and  resolution,  258. 

Efforts  to  construct,  defend,  and  purify 
church  doctrines,  an  indirect  Reviv- 
al, 10. 

Eloquence  of  Dr.  Payson,  source  of, 
210,  211 ;  grounds  of,  316,  317. 

Emotional  preaching,  269-271. 

Emotions,  moral  gradation  of,  271. 


English  Reformation,  two  channels, 
182  ;  its  errors,  182. 

Enthusiasm  a  branch  of  faith,  211, 
212  ;  first  element  of  sacred  oratory, 
317- 

Epochs  in  history  formed  by  Benedict, 
Bernard,  and  Savonarola,  9. 

Evangelists,  who  are  they?  254; 
questions  concerning  them,  255,  256  ; 
their  preaching  and  that  of  the 
pastor  compared,  266.  (See  preachers 
in  Revivals.) 

Excitement,  objections  against,  35  *,  in 
harvest-time,  37  ;  specific  cases,  49-51. 

Exodus,  the,  a  Revival,  112. 

Experience,  relating  of,  292. 

External  or  aggressive  work  in  Reviv- 
als, 245. 

External  influences,  relations  of,  to  the 
impenitent,  237;  hindering  a  Reviv- 
al, 284. 

Extravagances  of  Revivals,  45  ;  "bodily 
exercises,"  47;  "  the  Jerks,"  48. 

Ezra  and  the  Revival,  36. 

Facts  other  than  those  of  natural 
science,  77-79. 

Faith,  its  necessity,  225  ;  its  elements, 
317.     (See  prayer.) 

Family  religion,  first  dispensation  of 
grace,  109. 

Fear  as  a  motive,  37;  nothing  low  in, 
271. 

Field-itreaching  first  aggressive  step  of 
Methodism,  187,  195. 

Fifth-Monarchists,  24. 

Financial  crisis  of  1837,  and  results, 
143  ;  of  1857,  143. 

Finney,  Rev.  Charles  G.,  Mr.  Nettle- 
ton's  criticism,  50,  51 :  remarks  upon 
causes  of  declension,  56,  57  ;  remarka- 
ble success,  142  ;  topics  in  Revivals, 
263.  .  .     , 

Forms  of  development  in  Revivals 
modified  by  ex'ternal  conditions,  5. 

France,  religious  movements  in,  146. 

P'rancke's  Orphan  House,  130. 

Froude  upon  Contentions  of  good  men, 
34  ;  upon  philosophers,  82,  83. 

Gratitude,  important  step  in  a  Reviv- 
al, 293. 
Guiding  inquirers,  299. 

Haldane,  the  brothers,  of  Scotland, 
146. 

Harms,  Pastor,  203  ;  faith  and  prayer, 
204  ;  pastorate  at  Hermannsburg, 
206  ;  labors,  206  ;  results,  20^  ;  preach- 
ing described,  277. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  First  Church  of,  22 1- 
223. 


INDEX. 


335 


Heart-quickening  characteristic  of  true 
preaching,  276. 

Heart-searching  characteristic  of  true 
preaching,  275. 

Hermannsburg,  Pastor  Harms' s  labors 
in,  206-209. 

Hildebrand  and  his  labors,  23,  24. 

Hinderances  to  a  Revival,  external  and 
internal,  284. 

History  of  Revivals,  loS  ;  Ante-Mosaic, 
108;  Jewish,  109;  apostolical,  115  ; 
post-apostolical,  117  ;  later  Revivals, 
140-152. 

Holy  Ghost,  in  Revivals,  82  ;  Christ's 
representative,  92  ;  efficient  agent  in 
the  work,  98 ;  employing  little  things 
as  means  for  the  sinner's  conversion, 
238  ;  sin  against,  286  ;  sovereignty  of, 
287. 

"  Houses,"  institution  called,  27. 

Human  agency,  102. 

HumiHty  source  of  strength,  213,  214; 
letter  of  Pastor  Rochat,  328-331. 

Huss,  John,  of  Prague,  gi'eat  Revival- 
ist, 173  ;  power  and  influence,  174; 
providential  training,  175  ;  self-renun- 
ciation, 176;  boldness,  178;  sermons, 
180;  prophecy  and  martyrdom,  181. 

"Idolizing  Revivals,"  Dr.  Bushnell 
upon,  47. 

Imperfect  Revivals  may  be  divinely 
given,  loi. 

Indirect  Revivals,  7 ;  first  form,  po- 
litico-religious, 7  ;  second  form,  pro- 
duction of  moral  changes,  9 ;  efforts 
to  construct,  defend,  and  purify  church 
doctrines,  10 ;  under  post-apostolical, 
118. 

Infidelity,  its  check  in  America,  139. 

Influence  of  Revivals  upon  ministers, 
66,  67. 

Inquirers,  guiding,  299;  classification 
of,  according  to  character,  301. 

Inquir>'-meeting,  314. 

Insanity,  instance  of,  and,  49-51,  note. 

Inspiration  of  the  Bible,  necessity  of 
full  belief  in,  227. 

Intellectual  progress  irregular  in  its 
movements,  44,  45. 

Intense  desire  necessary  before  suc- 
cess, 227. 

Internal  hinderances  to  a  work  of 
grace,  284. 

Ireland,  Revival  in,  144  ;  Prof.  Gibson 
upon,  145  ;  narrations  of  experience 
during,  279. 

Italy,  work  in,  147. 

Jacob  at  Bethel,  12, 
"Jerks,  the,"  extravagant  exhibitions, 
48. 


Jewish  Revivals,  109-114. 

Knapp,  Rev.  Jacob,  in  1839  and  1840, 
142. 

Later  Revivals,  140-152. 

Laws  of  the  material  and  spiritual  worlds, 
79-83  ;  in  the  operations  of  grace,  286. 

Lay-efforts  in  Revivals,  246-249. 

Lay-preaching,  193. 

Leaders  in  Revivals,  3. 

Livingston,  Rev.  John,  at  Shotts,  134 ; 
leaf  from  his  journal,  135. 

Luther,  Martin,  and  Staupitz,  169 ;  Ref- 
ormation, 170  ;  John  Huss  and,  179. 

Maccabees,  wars  of,  8. 

MacColl,  Rev.  Dr.,  upon  church-work, 
310. 

Man's  probable  plan  of  history  unlike 
God's  plan,  41,  42. 

Martin,  the  monk,  his  confession,  26. 

Material  forces  not  supreme  in  human 
affairs,  83-86. 

Means  employed  in  a  Revival,  3. 

Melancholy,  religious,  51,  iiote. 

Merivale  on  Council  of  Nice,  11  ;  on 
conversion  of  Goths  and  Romans,  97. 

Methodism,  or  the  Wesleys  and  White- 
field,  181  ;  men  who  had  prepared  the 
way  for  them,  183  ;  the  "  Holy  Club  " 
at  Oxford,  185  ;  first  aggressive  step 
of,  field-preaching,  187  ;  persecution 
of,  187  ;  Whitefield  at  Moorfields, 
188 ;  lay-preaching,  193  ;  results, 
193-195  ;  failure  in  grasping  the  demo- 
cratic idea,  308. 

Methodists,  continuous  Revival  for 
half  a  centur>',  69  ;  Isaac  Taylor  upon, 
106. 

Milton,  John,  Revival  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  65,  66. 

Ministers  in  Revivals,  preaching  of,  18. 
(See  preachers  in  Revivals. ) 

Miracles  and  science,  80 ;  and  natu- 
ralism, 82. 

Mohammed's  protest  against  polythe- 
ism, 29. 

Montanists,  23. 

Moorfields,  Whitefield  at,  188. 

Moravians,  120. 

Mormons,  25. 

Moses,  leader  in  first  Revival,  7  ;  charac- 
ter of,  109  ;  sixty  years  of  prayer,  112  ; 
eminently  a  Revivalist,  172. 

Mutual  confession,  step  towards  an 
awakening,  244. 

Necessity    for    Revivals    in    church 

history,  44. 
Nestorian  converts,  benevolence  of,  i: 
Nettleton,  Rev.  Asahel,   "  new  me. 


336 


INDEX. 


ures,"  52 ;    perseverthce  of  converts 
in  Revivals,  55  ;    an  evangelist,   141. 

New  "Brunswick,   N.J.,  Revival  in,  95. 

Nice,  Council  of,  10;    Merivale  on,  11. 

Nicholas  of  Basle,  159. 

Old  Testament    prophets   generally 

Revivalists  without  Revivals,  153. 
Opposition  of  good  men  to   Revivals, 

33,  34-  r  ,        , 

Ordinary  condition  of  the  church,  ig,  20. 
Organization  of  a  working  church,  308. 
Oroomiah  in  1845,  234,  235. 

Pastors  and  evangelists,  251^ ;  dif- 
ference in  the  preaching  of,  266. 

Pathos,  its  power,  213. 

Payson,  Edward,  'and  Sewall,  209 ; 
sources  of  his  power,  209 ;  sincerity, 
210;  eloquence,  211;  enthusiasm, 
211;  pathos,  213;  humility,  213; 
intellectual  power,  214;  tact,  214-, 
incessant  prayer,  216. 

Peter  the  hermit,  24. 

Philosophers  and  the  church,  lo ;  moral 
changes,  9. 

Philosophical  objections  to  Revivals, 
71  ;  "order of  nature  inviolable,"  72- 
76 :  facts  unexplained  by  nature,  76- 
79 ;  Author  and  laws  of  nature,  7c)- 
83 ;  "  material  forces  supreme  in 
human  affans,"  83-S6, 

Pietism,  129 ;  degenerated  into  intel- 
lectualism,  131.  _ 

Pittsburg  convention  of  1857,  143. 

Politico-religious  movements,  7. 

Popular  view  of  Revivals  too  limited,  4. 

Popular  objections  to  Revivals,  33  ;  un- 
healthful  excitement,  33  ;  their  neces- 
sity, 44  ;  various  extravagances,  45  ; 
"  bodily  exercises,"  47;  "the  Jerks," 
48  ;  pathological  laws,  48  ;  insanity 
and  epilepsy,  49  ;  superficial  excite- 
ments, 54. 

Port  Royalists,  128. 

Porter,  Prof.,  "clergymen  against  Re- 
vivals," 61. 

Post-apostolical  Revivals,  117. 

Prayer,  lack  of  reverence  in,  53  ;  sci- 
ence and,  8t,  82  ;  sixty  years  of,  112  ; 
prominent  feature  of  every  Revival, 
233  ;  more  than  words,  234 ;  grades 
of,  235;  "in  the  Holy  Ghost,*'  235, 
236  ;  social  prayer,  236  ;  for  the  Holy 
Spirit,  239  -,  power  at  Pentecost,  240  ; 
pulpit  and,  240,  241  ;  in  Revival,  293. 
Preachers  in  Revivals  expect  im- 
mediate results,  259,  260;  Bible 
truths,  261  ;  topics,  262-266  ;  tone, 
267  ;  style,  268  ;  employment  of  the 
emotions,  269-271;  power,  316-318; 
expectations,  318-322. 


Preaching  for  a  Revival,  Dr.  Beccher's 
remark,  245  ;  importance,  257  ;  char- 
acteristics of :  —  thought-quickening, 
272;  enlightening,  273  ;  heart-search- 
ing, 275  ;  heart-quickening,  276  ;  con- 
science-quickening, 277  ;  conscience- 
guiding,  277 ;  removing  hinderances, 
283- 

Preparing  for  a  Revival :  —  faith  in  the 
supernatural,  224 ;  intense  desire, 
227  ;  prayer,  233  ;  consecration,  241  ; 
mutual  confession,  244 ;  aggressive 
work,  245. 

Preservative  force  in  religion,  29. 

Probable  increase  in  number  of  Re- 
vivals, 4. 

Progressive  development  of  religious 
sentiment,   123  ;  by  awakenings,  229. 

Providence  in  Revivals,  92  ;  alarming 
dispensations  of,  94  ;  movem«nts  of, 
preparatory,  96;  likened  to  work  in 
nature,  103. 

Puseyism,  30. 

Questions  concerning  evangelists,  254, 
256.     .         , 

Quickening  of  personal  piety  in  a  com- 
munity, a  Revival,  12. 

Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, 8  ;  doctrine  and  liberty  of 
conscience,  8  ;  civil  liberty,  8  ;  greatest 
cjuickening  in  modern  history,  124  ; 
influence  upon  the  Latin  Church, 
127  ;  Germany,  131 ;  Scotland,  132  ; 
Dr.  Ullman  upon  the  reformers,  156. 

Religious  excitement  not  always  a  Re- 
vival, 25. 

Responsibility  of  pastors,  280 ;  their 
office,  326. 

Results  of  Revivals,  benevolence,  13  ; 
conversions  accompanying  efforts  and 
prayers,  14  ;  change  from  a  season  of 
coldness,  16-19. 

Revivalists  in  Revivals,  171  ;  Moses, 
David,  Elijah,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah, 
John  the  Baptist,  and  apostles,  172  ; 
John  Huss,  173  ;  the  Wesley s  and 
Whitefield,  181  ;  Jonathan  Edwards, 
196 ;  Pastor  Haims,  203 ;  Edward 
Payson,  209. 

Revivalists  without  Revivals,  153;  the 
Old  Testament  prophets  generally, 
155;  the  Christian  fathers,  155; 
writers,  157;  John  Tauler,  158;  John 
von  Staupitz,  167. 

Revivals,  description  of,  i ;  place  in 
religious  world,  i ;  give  value  to 
history,  2  ;  leaders  in,  3  ;  modified  by 
outward  conditions  of  society,  5  ; 
influence  of  climate  and  season  upon, 
6 ;    two    classes    of,  —  indirect    and 


INDEX. 


337 


direct,  7.  Indirect, — ^politico-religious, 
the  exodus,  7;  production  of  moral 
changes,  9 ;  efforts  to  construct, 
defend,  and  purifj^  church  doctrines, 
10.  Direct,  —  quickening  of  per- 
sonal piety,  12 ;  quickening  of  com- 
munit}^  of  believers,  12  ;  Israel  under 
Samuel,  Josiah,  and  Hezekiah,  12  ; 
Corinthian  Church,  13.  Results  of, 
benevolence.  13  ;  conversions,  14 ; 
definition  ot,  14  ;  discriminative  ex- 
amination of,  16;  ordinary  condition 
of  church  and,  16  ;  contrast  with  cold- 
ness and  formality  in  the  church,  16- 
ig  ;  contrast  with  the  ordinary  health- 
ful condition  of  the  church,  19-22  ; 
three  features  of  every  Revival,  19 ; 
constant  growth  of  church  not  a  Re- 
vival, 19 ;  spurious  Revivals,  22-32. 
Defensive  vieiu  of,  32.  Popular  ob- 
jections,  33  ;  Revival  in  Ezra's  day, 
36 ;  President  Edwards  upon  per- 
sonal piety,  38  ;  disturbing  elements 
in,  39,  40 ;  Revivals  not  faultless 
while  instruments  are  imperfect,  42  ; 
their  necessity,  44 ;  various  extrava- 
gancies, 45;  "idolizing  Revivals," 
47  ;  "  bodily  exercises,"  47  ;  "  the 
jerks,"  48  ;  insanity  not  produced  by 
Revivals,  49  and  note  ;  fruits  not  of 
superficial  excitements,  54  ;  Mr.  Net- 
tleton's  testimony  as  to  those  con- 
verted during  Revivals,  55  ;  effects  of 
Revival  during  the  last  century',  in 
New  England,  55,  56 :  Mr.  Finney 
upon  cause  of  declension  in,  56,  57 ; 
declension  no  argument  against  them, 
58.  Theological  objectiofis,  59  ;  "  Re- 
vivals inconsistent  with  the  nature  of 
Christianity,"  59 ;  criticism  of  Dr. 
Bushnell's  objections,  59,  60;  Prof. 
Porter's  "clergymen  against  Re- 
vivals," 61 ;  value  of  Revivals,  62  ; 
scriptural  statements,  62,  63  ;  dearth 
without  them,  64,  65 ;  Revival  of 
sixteenth  century,  65  ;  influence  upon 
ministers,  66 ;  teaches  homiletics, 
66,  67 ;  churches  blessed,  and  souls 
saved,  67  ;  influence  upon  the  char- 
acter of  towns  and  districts,  68-70. 
Philosophical  objections,  71  ;  "  order 
of  nature  inviolable,"  72-76 ;  facts 
unexplained  by  nature,  76-79  ;  "  the 
laws  of  nature  must  be  held  sacred 
by  the  Author  of  nature,"  79 ;  ex- 
amination of  the  statement,  79-83  ; 
"  supremacy  of  material  forces  in 
human  affairs,"  83-86.  TJieology  of 
Revivals,  88  ;  agency  of  Providence 
in,  92  ;  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  efficient 
agent  in,  98  ;  human  agency  in,  102  ; 
agency  of  the  gospel  in,  105.  History 
29 


of,  108 ;    ante-Mosaic,  108 ;   J«wish, 

log;  apostolical,  115;  post-apos- 
tolical, 117;  later  Revivals,  140-152. 
Revivalists  without  Revivals,  153  ; 
Old  Testament  prophets  generally, 
155  ;  the  Christian  fathers,  155 ; 
writers,  157;  John  Tauler,  158;  John 
von  Staupitz,  167.  Revivalists  in  Re- 
vivals, 171 ;  prophets  and  apostles, 
172  ;  John  Huss,  173  ;  Methodism, 
or  the  Wesleys  and  Whitefield,  181- 
195  ;  Jonathan  Edwards,  and  the  Re- 
vival of  1740  in  America,  196  ;  Pastor 
Harms,  203  ;  Edward  Payson,  209  ; 
"are  Revivals  degenerating?"  217- 
223.  Practical  survey,  224 ;  pre- 
paring for  a  Revival,  224  ;  faith  in 
the  supernatural,  224  ;  intense  desire, 
227  ;  prayer,  233  ;  consecration,  241 ; 
mutual  confession,  244  ;  external  or 
aggressive  work,  245  ;  are  daily  meet- 
ings advisable?  251-254;  evangel- 
ists,  who  are  they?  254;  other  in- 
strumentalities, books,  &C.,  256; 
preaching,  its  importance  as  an 
agency,  257  ;  aims,  259 ;  topics,  262  ; 
tone,  267 ;  style,  268 ;  emotional 
preaching,  269-271.  Characteristics 
of  Revival-preachi7ig,  —  though t- 
quickening,  272  ;  enlightening,  273  ; 
heart-searching,  275  ;  heart-quicken- 
ing, 276  ;  conscience-quickening,  277  ; 
conscience-guiding,  278  ;  removing 
hinderances,  283.  IVaitittg for  a  Re- 
vival, 285.  Working  i?t  a  Revival, 
291  ;  preaching,  291  ;  special  phases, 
291  ;  gratitude  and  thanksgiving,  293  ; 
prayer,  293  ;  the  anxious-seat,  295  ; 
guiding  inquirers,  299-306.  Closing  a 
Revival,  306  ;  guard  from  declension 
of  piety,  307  ;  organization  of  church 
into  a  working  body,  308 ;  change 
style  of  pulpit  themes,  311;  converts' 
Bible  class,  312. 

River  of  Ezekiel,  t5rpe  of  God's  king- 
dom, 6, 

Robe,  Rev.  Mr.,  testimony  as  to  lay- 
efforts,  247. 

Robertson,  F.  W.,  quoted,  29. 

Rochat,  M .,  letter  of,  upon  humility,  329. 

Roman  empire,  conversion  of,  likened 
to  a  tide,  58. 

Saul  of  Tarsus,  conversion  of,  93. 
Savonarola,  9  ;  eminent  reformer,  172. 
Scepticism  of  some  preachers,  274. 
Schleiermacher  and  rationalists,  131. 
Scotland,  Revival  in,  132-137. 
Scriptural  descriptions  of  Revivals,  15. 
Science,   definition   of,  72  ;  conclusions 

never  basis  of  absolute  certainty,  74 ; 

judgment  of,  extra-judicial,  74;  nat- 


338 


INDEX. 


ural  science  moves  in  the  sphere  of 
the  sensible,  ^5  ;  facts  beyond  science, 
76  ;  assumptions  of,  80  ;  prayer  and, 
81,  82  ;  material  forces  not  supreme 
in  human  affairs,  83-86. 

"Sensational  preaching,"  270. 

Sentiment,  its  use  and  power,  203. 

Separation  of  Church  and  State  in 
Connecticut,  93. 

Sewall,  Jotham,  209. 

Shotts,  Revival  at,  131. 

Sm  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  286. 

Sincerity,  its  power,  209-211. 

Smith,  Prof.  H.  B.,  upon  Revivals  of  the 
present  day,  150. 

Socialism,  28. 

Socrates,  martyr  for  the  truth,  104 ; 
consecration  of,  151. 

Soul,  capabilities  of,  281. 

Sovereignty  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  98 ; 
not  arbitrary  action,  287. 

Special  phases  of  religious  work,  291. 

Spiritism,  28. 

Starting-point  of  history,  the  apostasy, 
90. 

State  of  church  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, 136,  137. 

Staupitz,  John  von,  167  ;  at  Wittenberg, 
168 ;  meets  Luther,  169 ;  connection 
with  Reformation,  170. 

Style  of  Revival-preaching,  268. 

Sympathy  with  sinner,  misplaced,  295  ; 
necessity  of,  300. 

Tauler,  John,  26 ;  Dominican  monk, 
158;  at  Strasburg,  159;  Nicholas  of 
Basle  and,  159;  character  of,  160; 
conflict  with  the  pope,  162  ;  labors  in 
the  great  plague  of  1348,  163;  elo- 
quence, 164  ;  compared  with  Socra- 
tes, 164. 

Taylor,  Isaac,  upon  the  Methodists,  io6. 

Temperance  reformation,  Revival  of 
moral  prmciple,  9 . 

Tests  of  Revival,  3  ;  of  results,  4 ;  of 
conversion,  305. 

"Theologica  Germanica,"  Chevalier 
Bunsen  upon,  123. 

Theological  objectionstoRevivals,  59-62. 

Theology  of  Revivals,  88  ;  agency  of 
Providence,  92  ;  the  Holy  Spirit  the 
efficient  agent,  98 ;  human  agency,  102  ; 
agency  of  the  gospel,  105-107. 

Thought-quickening  characteristic  of 
true  preaching,  272. 


Tone  of  Revival-preaching,  267. 

Topics  of  Revival-preaching,  106,  262. 

Tractarian  party  and  its  leaders,  30; 
Robertson's  opinion  of  them,  31; 
opinion  of  "The  North  British  Re- 
view," 31. 

Tracy,  Rev.  Joseph,  estimate  of  results 
of  the  great  awakening  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  55,  56. 

True  preaching,  274. 

Ullman,  Dr.,  upon  the  Reformation, 

124  ;  upon  the  reformers,  156. 
University  of  Halle,  130. 

Value  of  Revivals,  reply  to  popular 

and  theological  objections,  62-71. 
Variety  in  Revivals,  5. 
Vinet  upon  "  Port  Royal,"  127. 

Waiting  for  a  Revival,  285  ;  two  lines 
of  action,  289. 

Wesley,  Charles  and  John,  181 ;  con- 
version, 184  ;  results  of  their  labors, 
194,  •c)5. 

Whitefield,  Rev.  George,  extract  from 
"Post  Boy,"  38,39;  ministers  around 
Boston  converted  under  his  ministry, 

.  55 ;  Methodists,  185  ;  at  Moorfield's, 
188;  remark  of  John  Newton  upon, 
191 ;  his  preaching,  192  ;  Revival  of 
1740,  192  ;  his  pathos,  213  ;  sermons 
unreportable,  268  ;  manner  of  preach- 
ing, 2  82,  283.     _ 

Wickliffe,  John,  influence  of  his  works, 
176  ;  elaborated  principles  of  Protest- 
antism, 180. 

Williams  College,  tabular  statement  of 
conversions  in,  148 ;  influence  of  Re- 
vivals in,  149. 

Woman  as  an  exhorter,  293. 

Working  in  a  Revival,  291  ;  the  preach- 
ing, 291 ;  special  phases,  291 ;  grati- 
tude and  thanksgiving,  293  ;  pra>;er, 
293  ;  the  anxious-seat,  295 ;  guiding 
inquirers,  299. 

Work  of  a  church,  Rev.  Dr.  MacColl 
upon,  310. 

Writers  after  the  Reformation,  157. 

Yale  College,  tabular  statement  of 
Revivals  In,  148. 

Zeal  and  resolution,  remarks  of  Presi- 
dent Edwards  upon,  257,  258. 


Princeton   Theological  Semin,iry-Speer 


1    1012  0 


152  3885 


Date  Due 


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